From The Past
by avenger1748
Summary: CA:TWS movieverse. Steve has been adjusting to life after The Avengers while still continuing his work with SHIELD, but he can't manage to get over how much he's lost, especially the people he loved. However when he befriends a young woman in his building, he soon realizes he's not the only one searching for those in his past when he discovers her last name: Barnes. OC character.
1. Life Now

**Hey guys! I know I haven't written anything in a while or updated my other stories, but I hope to work on that soon but for the meantime I've started a new one. Hope you enjoy it!**

Steve turned the corner to his apartment building, enjoying the last few seconds on his motorbike. He liked taking it out for a ride, especially at night when the city was quieter. It was hard to go anywhere without people noticing him or bothering him. He appreciated the support and gratefulness he got from society, but it did make getting used to things a lot harder.

However he was making progress. He wasn't questioning as much as he used to, but then he had learnt to stop asking when he realized just how much he didn't know. Steve wanted to be independent, he hating relying on others, and he wanted to adjust to this new world by himself. The world he fought to save.

When he turned off the key and stepped onto the pavement, he was startled by the young woman who appeared standing behind him.

''Didn't you say I could borrow this thing one day?'' she narrowed her eyes at him.

Steve smiled and tossed the keys around in his hands as he turned to her. She had her hands in her jacket pockets and a backpack on, and given their previous run-ins late at night, Steve knew she would be returning from the gym.

''I said you could take it for a spin,'' he corrected.

''Oh come on, not all of us get to drive those things around, I don't even have a _car__,_'' the woman whined jokingly. ''Believe it or not working at a run down diner doesn't exactly give someone an opportunity to invest in one,''

''You know what? Next time I'm out of town, you can take the keys,''

They both walked over to the doors of the building and went inside to the silent hall, beginning to climb the stairs. She lived in the apartment below Steve's, playing her music loud and often enough that Steve took an interest in it, and she'd been recommending artists and albums to him ever since. Especially when she found out about the list he was keeping.

''Did you watch Star Wars yet?'' she asked as they stepped up the stairs. ''Because I have the whole set of Pirates of The Caribbean that you _need _too see next,''

Steve chuckled at her eagerness to share the movies. She was always suggesting things for him to catch up on.

''I'll put them on the list,''

They finally reached her floor and Steve waited until she unlocked her door, being the gentlemen he was. He always looked out for her whenever he could, she was the youngest resident in the building and he couldn't help feeling a little protective of her especially since they'd become quite good friends.

''Well, goodnight Steve,'' she looked back over to him when she pushed her door open.

'''night Jess,'' he smiled before continuing up to his apartment on the next floor.

When she locked the door behind her and flicked on the lights, Jess carefully took off her backpack and threw it onto her couch. She began to slowly unzip her jacket, wincing as she slid it off over her shoulders which were bruised and swollen. She let out a long sigh once her heavy clothing was off, standing in her living room wearing her underwear. There were red stains all over her body but compared to other times, this was nothing.

Jess walked to the mirror in her room and looked over her body, shaking her head in annoyance and she reviewed the damage.

''This is what I get for leaving my gun at home,''

* * *

Natasha had been trying to convince Steve for a while now to go out on a date. Specifically with his neighbor Kate who was a nurse, but Steve had never actually been on a date before. Back in the 40's, Steve wasn't a ladies man at all, in fact he was lucky to have a conversation with one that lasted for more than 'Hello'. But, what Steve didn't tell anyone, was that he wasn't over his first love, Peggy.

Steve and Peggy didn't date exactly, but they never had the chance to. Where Peggy could mourn and eventually move on and live a life for the next 70 years, Steve was stuck on ice. To him, he was still in love with Peggy like it was yesterday, not decades ago. He wasn't ready, but he knew he had to try.

Natasha had brought up the topic again when she dropped Steve off a few blocks away from his apartment building. She just wanted him to get out there and be more confident, but Steve just assured her he was too busy for a relationship, not wanting to delve into the real reason.

As he walked along the street, he saw the diner that Jess worked at and decided to grab an early dinner. If he went home right now, he wouldn't know what to do with himself. He had to keep himself busy.

''Mommy look!'' a young boy pointed.

Steve smiled at the child as he walked inside, opting to sit in a quieter area in the corner. He was always getting recognized, he began to regret not wearing a hat or something to make him a little less obvious. He sat down at a table for two and couldn't help reaching into his pocket and pulling out the compass he had kept with him since the 40's. He stared at Peggy, unable to stop a smile from creeping onto his face, but it soon faded when he looked up at the empty seat across from him. Steve had to move on, get with the times, and he was trying, but some things were harder than others.

''Since when do you come here to eat?''

Steve looked up at the familiar voice, closing the compass and slipping it back into his pocket.

''Well I heard of this thing called a friends discount,'' he smiled teasingly.

''Really? Because _friends _let their other friends borrow their bike when they're late to work,'' she joked.

''I said you could have the keys when I was out of town, didn't I?''

Jess rolled her eyes and chuckled.

''True,'' she nodded, pulling out a notepad. ''So what'll it be Cap?''

Steve had spent most of his meal thinking rather than eating, wondering what he was supposed to do now. He had been adjusting to life here for a while now and he had gotten used to as much as he could, but he couldn't help feeling like such an outcast. Society celebrated him, they loved him so much, but he couldn't have felt lonelier.

Natasha was right, he had to get out there and build up some confidence. He had to ask Kate on a date, make some progress even if it was a lengthy conversation in the hall. It had taken him almost two hours to make that decision, and when he looked out the window he could see the streets becoming darker.

''Mind if I join you or are you having a 'me' moment?'' Jess asked, already sitting down across from him, setting her milkshake in front of her.

''Lost track of time,'' he broke away from his thoughts. ''You always sit down with your customers?''

''Hey I've been here since 6am, I'm officially done for the day,'' she told him, reaching over and grabbing a few fries. ''Food here not so good?''

Steve looked down and saw he had hardly ate anything on his plate.

''Oh, no, it was great,'' he shook his head, feeling rude. ''Just...got a lot on my mind I guess,''

Jess nodded as she popped each fry into her mouth individually, slurping at her strawberry milkshake in between.

''Anything you wanna talk about?'' she offered.

Steve took a moment. He didn't really like opening up to people, especially these days since he barely knew anyone enough to tell them anything at all. But he always felt differently about Jess, like she was a little sister he could talk to about anything.

''I thought the hardest part about adjusting to a new world was all the technology and how much I'd have to catch up on, but I guess I was wrong,'' he told her as she looked over to him, listening. ''It might have been 70 years to everyone else, but to me it was like an hour-long nap, and when I woke up everyone I knew was...gone. My family, Peggy, Bucky,'' he paused.

Jess looked away for a moment, knowing how much those people meant to him and how hard it must have been for him to just wake up and discover they were all gone.

''It's unfair. After everything you did, you lost the most,'' she reached over to his hand for a moment. ''But you're not alone here, you don't have to be,''

''I know,'' he nodded.

''Hey I get it. I mean, I _don't _get it because I haven't been through everything you have, but I get feeling alone. I know like three people in this city, I'm just as lost as you are here, except I get way more reference than you do,''

Steve chuckled and smiled over to Jess. Although he was older than she was, he always felt that she was the one comforting him the most and helping him through a lot more. Whether it was a short conversation down the stairs of their building or walking around the city for the day, he liked her company. And it was true, she did feel just as lost here as he did. Jess had told Steve the basics of her life, but he didn't like to pry. He knew she wasn't close to her family, that something had happened that caused her to go off on her own and ended up here by herself, but she didn't talk about it too much.

''You know you can always talk to me Steve,'' she reminded him with a smile.

''Yeah I know,'' he smiled in return. ''Thanks,''

Jess glanced at her phone for a moment before finishing off her milkshake and throwing her bag over her shoulder.

''Well, I'm gonna skip the gym and go home and watch really bad reality TV, care to join?''

''I might pass on the reality TV. How about we start those Pirates of the Sea movies?'' he suggested as he stood and followed her out the door of the diner.

Jess stared at him for a moment when they began walking on the pavement.

''Pirates of the Sea?! It's _Caribbean,'' _she explained, almost insulted.

''Hey, I've only heard of it once,'' Steve defended.

''70 years of sleeping does not excuse calling it Pirates of the Sea,'' she laughed for a good minute. ''Now we _have _to watch it

Steve shook his head at her mocking as they continued walking. The streets were busy and there were a lot of people who looked twice at Steve before beginning to stare at him as they recognized who he was, but he was used to it now. It still made him slightly uncomfortable though considering he was still trying to ease back into things, but he'd learn to live with it.

''Still up for that run in the morning?'' he asked Jess as she yawned.

''Why wouldn't I be?''

''You seem a little tired,'' he smirked.

''Hey, I'll be up and ready for that run before you are that's for sure. Just because I'm not a super-soldier doesn't mean I won't be able wake up for a run,''

''That's funny because last time you agreed to go on a morning run you slept until midday,''

Jess turned to glare up at Steve who was trying not to smile too wide, shaking her head at the memory she probably wouldn't live down.

''Shut up,''

**So I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter! I just want to make it clear I am not intending Jess to be a romantic interest or anything like that in this story, just a close friend. There's a lot more behind her and this story that I think is a unique idea and that you guys will like to please follow this story and please review. Thanks!**


	2. Secrets

It was hard enough managing to get her hands on files, but it was even harder trying to find time to sit down and actually go through them. Usually they held no importance to her, just containing information she already knew and had read many times before. Something was out there though in one of the files she just hadn't got her hands on yet, but she'd find it eventually. She'd come too far and gone through too much to not keep searching.

Music was filling her apartment as she continued reading the files, her legs kicked up on the desk in front of her. As she read over the same information for the tenth time, her eyes almost fell closed when someone knocked at her door. Jess threw the files down onto the table, yawning as she walked over to open her door to one of her neighbors.

''Hi,'' she smiled, unaware of the woman's name.

There was quite a negative stigma attached to young people moving into apartment buildings and causing havoc with wild parties and chaos, and since Jess was only just 20 years old and had only lived in the building for a few months, the residents were still quite wary.

''I can hear your music blaring through my apartment next door,'' the woman folded her arms. ''You're not the only one in this building,''

''Oh, I didn't realize it was that loud I would have-''

''Well it is, please keep it down,'' the woman shook her head disapprovingly before walking away.

Jess watched the woman make her way back to her own apartment, making a mental note of those who clearly didn't like her. She couldn't have been the only person in this building who played music at a reasonable level and was younger than 25, but it didn't bother her too much. However she realized the music must have been louder than she thought when she turned it off and realized her phone had been ringing, buzzing against the desk it sat on. I was an unknown number, but she had a good idea of who it would be.

''Did you get the files?'' the man's voice asked.

''I did, and they're pretty useless,'' she sighed. ''I need something better. I've read over the same stuff too much,''

''I can't get anything bigger than that. I don't exactly have a high level security clearance in this place,''

''Zac, I only asked you to do this because you can actually get into that place, you've got access to whatever files you want,''

''No I don't, I don't have any clearance-''

''I showed you how to get into it without clearance and without a trace of you doing it,'' she reminded him.

''I can't do it like that, this place is designed for security. You won't even tell me what it's about or why you need it, how am I supposed to explain that if I get caught?''

Jess groaned and tilted her head back onto the back of the couch. She didn't blame Zac for being cautious, but she'd been searching to answers for too long to have his fear of getting caught stop her now. She had no plans to involve him in her reasons for needing the information, but she knew she wouldn't be able to give him any more encouragement over the phone. He lacked the fast-paced skills that Jess had with computers when it came to hacking into something without anyone noticing.

''I'll do it then,'' she shook her head. ''If you're sure you can't do this, or you're too worried about getting caught, then find a way to get me in there and I'll do it myself, okay?''

Zac was quiet for a moment.

''They run security checks on everyone who comes through the door,'' he warned.

''Then make sure that they don't. Come on Zac, you do have some authority there you know, you just need to start using it. Make up a story or cause a diversion so I can get past security. I don't know, I don't work there, but do you think you can do that?''

''I think I can,'' he assured her. ''Look, I'm sorry I can't get any of the files you want,''

''It's fine, I guess I'd be a bit on edge if I worked in a place like that too, don't worry about it. Just call me when you can get me in, okay?''

''I will, definitely,''

''Oh and Zac,'' she remembered. ''If you find out anything about some operations that seem a little off or something, let me know won't you?''

''I thought you had your own way of finding that out?''

''I do, I just don't think I'm getting all of it. I'll talk to you soon,''

Jess hung up the phone and tossed it back onto the couch as she ran her hands over her face. Getting into SHIELD Headquarters wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

Natasha looked over to Steve who sat in the passenger seat of her car, noticing how he kept staring at he list in in his hands. The same one he was always looking at and adding to every time someone mentioned something worth catching up on, which happened the be a lot of things. He crossed out two things on the list and looked over the others one more time before putting the notepad back into his pocket.

''Have you wrote down my suggestion yet?'' she asked with a smirk on her lips.

''Your suggestion?''

''Yeah, to get a date,'' she reminded him.

''Oh yeah, that's at the top of my list. After missing almost the last 70 years, getting a date is definitely the thing that's most important to me right now,''

Natasha rolled her eyes.

''It wouldn't be such a bad thing to go on a harmless date, have some fun for once,''

Steve looked out the window as the car rolled to a stop outside of his apartment building. Natasha watched and waited for him to open the car door, feeling the chill in the air from the cold night.

''Hey Steve,''

They both looked up to see the girl walking by the car, a polite smile on her face.

''Oh hey Jess. A bit late to be hitting the gym don't you think?'' he asked when he noticed her backpack on and her clothing.

''It's the only time I have to train, gotta beat you on that morning run somehow,'' she told him as she turned, walking backwards as if in a hurry. ''Be prepared Rogers!''

Steve chuckled as she began jogging away. Natasha didn't get a good look of her face thanks to the hood Jess was wearing, but she watched as the girl hurried away, knowing they'd mos likely meet like this again.

''So that's Jess,'' Natasha looked over to Steve. ''Bit young for you I think,''

Steve shook his head as he stepped out of the car.

''Yes that's Jess, the kid I try to look out for, the one I said is more like a little sister or something, not a date,'' he lectured as he pulled on his jacket.

''How old did you say she was?''

''She's 20 and she's got no one else here, just like me,''

''Right, understanding the brother-sister relationship thing a bit more now,'' she nodded. ''I'll see you tomorrow,''

* * *

Jess made sure she jogged casually away from her building, but when she saw her chance, she turned down a long alley way and changed her pace into a sprint. It had been over a week since she had told Zac to let her know about any operations SHIELD had going on that didn't seem right. Normally, SHIELD involved themselves in bigger issues such as large conspiracies, assassination attempts, things that involved bigger groups or bigger names. However, since Jess had been able to start monitoring their actions due to a complex system that had taken her a while to rely on, she noticed they were involving themselves in smaller things. Things that could be taken care of with a simple call to the police. But when SHIELD sent in a team or an agent to do something so small, it was an indication that they were hiding something, and that's what she was looking for.

Jess knew very well how SHIELD liked to cover up their actions no matter if they were for good or bad. People who got too close were taken care of in many different ways, but she'd learnt how to evade them and hide herself. She wasn't afraid of SHIELD even though she had good reason to be. She just wanted answers and she knew that they were hiding them. SHIELD wasn't protecting the world from danger, they were just hiding it.

* * *

The next morning Jess woke up to her phone buzzing loudly on her bedside table. She groaned in anger at the noise, rolling over and sitting up to answer the call from the private number.

''What?'' she yawned.

''Oh, did I wake you up?'' Zac asked. ''It's like two in the afternoon-''

''What's up?'' she asked again in an annoyed tone, cutting him off.

''Did everything go alright last night?''

''Oh yeah, it went great. You sent me into an op that didn't even involve SHIELD. A bunch of guys standing outside some shipping containers looking really confused. Suspicious, yeah, but no SHIELD,''

''No, that was a SHIELD operation, I'm sure of it. Trust me, I went through a_ lot_ to get that, it wasn't even in the records, but it was a SHIELD op for sure,''

Jess thought to herself for a moment, running her hand through her messy hair as she threw her legs off the bed and walked over to the couch to pick up the piece of paper she had wrote the details on.

''Wait, it wasn't on the records?'' she asked. ''How'd you get this then?''

''It was written in some journal thing I found in one of the offices, but I only looked at that one operation,''

''Are you serious? You went through someone's journal in a SHIELD office? Man, I know I told you to get me some information but don't go too far Zac, I don't want you to lose your job or something,''

Or worse, she thought.

''It was only in the office across from mine, just sitting there on one of the desks. I wouldn't go looking for it or break into anything, I didn't even think it was something important until I seen that operation scheduled in,''

Jess looked over the words she'd written down. The address, the time, no details, but it was written up like any other SHIELD operation.

''You couldn't possibly get into the operations system could you?'' she wondered.

''Um, that's gonna be a definite no. Do I need to remind you that this place is _designed _for security?''

It didn't make sense. If that was a SHIELD operation, they wouldn't have left those men standing around with weapons and looking extremely suspicious. If it was a SHIELD mission, she would have seen them. She had dropped by enough of their covert missions to know what to look out for and signs of where the agents would be, and last night there was nothing, no sign of SHIELD agents.

''Since when does SHIELD write their operations in a journal. I thought they were big on the whole privacy and secrecy thing,''

''I don't know, I don't work the operations,'' Zac answered, knowing he was getting into dangerous territory.

''Unless they're hiding something,''

''Okay, I probably shouldn't get involved in this if you're gonna get into some SHIELD conspiracy spiel again,''

Jess threw the paper to the ground then, thinking to herself for another moment. It didn't seem right to have a SHIELD operation going on and having it documented in a journal just laying around one of the offices. It may have been something small or just a misunderstanding, but Jess didn't trust SHIELD or how they worked at all.

''Zac, I need to come in and get some information as soon as possible, okay? Think you can get me in something during this week? Preferably tomorrow?'' she asked in a nice, polite voice which she only used when asking for a favor.

There was a pause on the other line for a moment.

''I'll see what I can do,''

* * *

**This will get a lot more interesting as the next chapter comes out, and Steve will be included way more once I get things started. You probably have a lot of questions about who Jess is and what her motives are, but I promise it'll all come out eventually and everything she's doing will make much more sense. Anyway, I hope you're still interested in reading on and finding out what's going on. PLEASE REVIEW - I'd love to hear from you guys and if you're liking the story, thanks!**

**Also, feel free to review with a guess about what you think Jess in involved in or what her motives are ;)**


	3. Only One Left

''An I.T Specialist? At SHIELD? That's your story to get me in?'' Jess asked as she walked around her apartment.

Looking for an outfit that made her look like a professional business woman was difficult enough, but it turns out Zac had a much different role for her to play in his scheme.

''Hey, I worked for a good twenty minutes on this story, at least hear me out,'' he defended. ''You're going to be my personal consultant that has helped me out many times before and knows what you're doing. But the part that's gonna get you in is that I've made you a student doing a higher degree, someone who's really good with technology and would like an opportunity to work at SHIELD. It's kinda like how I got into this place,''

''So I'm an I.T Specialist and student?''

''Yes,'' he confirmed with a sigh. ''It'll be fine if you just go with it. I've set up the story, you just have to take care of looking and acting the part,''

* * *

Jess shook her head at her reflection in the mirror, wondering why she'd agreed to Zac's story. It was lucky that she happened to be good with computer and technology because she certainly didn't know how to look the part of an I.T Specialist or student. The last time she'd been a student she was in her early years of high school and she certainly didn't have pleasant memories of that time.

The clothes she'd chosen to wear mirrored the look of a typical hipster, but with a more professional look. Glasses, hair pulled back into a ponytail, black pants and a button up shirt. She didn't like how she looked in them, but she was just glad that within a few hours she would be finished with the role Zac had signed her up for.

Before she got to the door of her apartment though, her phone began ringing in her pocket. She was about to ignore the call until she saw the number on the screen, and she knew she had to answer.

''Hello?'' she put the phone to her ear, walking around looking for her shoes. ''Yeah that's me, how's she doing?''

Jess listened to the person on the other line and nodded to herself as she found the two black shoes she'd been looking for and took a seat on the couch. They were explaining something to her which made her pause what she was doing, her expression changing to one of worry.

''Oh, okay,'' she nodded, paying closer attention. ''Please call me if anything changes, I want to stay updated. Can I talk to her? Oh, no that's okay then. I'll book a flight for the morning and I'll be there as soon as I can. Can you tell her that? Let her know I'm coming. Yes I know. Okay, thanks,''

Jess put her phone back into her pocket and sat back on the couch closing her eyes. Bad news. She hadn't heard news at all for a few months, her fault she assumed because of her lack of communication, but it wasn't without trying. It almost put her off leaving her apartment, but she knew she wouldn't be able to get a flight until the morning. There was nothing she could do right now other than what she came here for.

* * *

''I.D?''

Jess lifted up the lanyard on around her neck to show the second round of guards as she made her way through the entrance of SHIELD. How Zac's story hadn't managed to backfire from her arrival was a wonder to her, but she was here now and it appeared to be working. She supposed SHIELD had bigger things to worry about than some girl coming in with a passion for technology. That, or they just weren't good at double checking their visitors.

''I'm supposed to be seeing Zac Williams,'' she told the guard as he looked over her student I.D and her approval form that Zac had given her.'

The guard looked down at her now, letting go of her lanyard.

''I'll take you there now,''

Jess didn't have enough time to take in everything around her, but she did her best as she was escorted to the offices. The plaques on the walls, the memorials for those who had fallen, the names she didn't have a chance to read.

They arrived at the office quicker than she thought. Apparently they weren't far from the entrance at all, in face they were in plain sight. For a facility that had this many secrets and information to hide, apparently glass walls and windows were acceptable.

''Man, they don't really give you the grand tour in this place,'' she remarked as she walked over to him.

Zac look up with a relieved smile.

''It worked!'' he told her. ''I got you in!''

''Yeah, you deserve some credit for that, I honestly thought something would backfire on us,''

''You compliments are always flawed at the end,'' Zac shook his head. ''So I got you a few hours, but only if you can assure me whatever you're doing doesn't get back to me,''

Jess sat her bag down on the large desk and put her hands on her hips.

''I assure you,'' she told him. ''Just be cool about it, don't draw attention by freaking out,''

Taking the chair next to him, Jess pulled up the homepage of the SHIELD computer and immediately started breaking down the security measures they had in place to get to the system she wanted. She inserted two different flash drives into the computer, filling out different codes to override the computers reaction to them. One was to basically become invisible on the SHIELD radar, cloaking what she was doing, and the other was to store all of the information she was hoping to find.

Zac sat back next to her looking over a file, doing his own work as she did hers. Occasionally he would look up to see if any security guards were coming their way or anyone was walking by, but they had nothing to worry about so far.

''Are you ever going to tell me why you're so interested in this place? What are you even looking for?''

''I told you, it's personal,''

''I get that, but I'm risking a lot to help you out. I'm just wondering why this is so important, whatever it is,''

''And I'm paying you quite well for your help. Let's just say I was brought up with stories that I think might be true, and I want to find out if I'm right,''

The files containing all of SHIELD's operation were encrypted, slowing Jess down for about ten minutes until she finally got past them. She'd been doing this sort of thing for a few years now, hacking into systems was easy, but SHIELD certainly challenged her. When she finally got inside the files she wanted, she searched for the operation at the docks that she'd dropped by the other night, but it wasn't there.

''Hey, that op the other night, was that approved by Secretary Pierce?'' she turned to Zac.

''Yeah, he approved all the operations. Why?''

''Nothing,'' she shook her head, keeping her thoughts to herself.

If that operation wasn't in the system, it wasn't in SHIELD. Secretary Pierce had approved something that wasn't in SHIELD's records. Something was definitely going on. Jess had always known that SHIELD was untrustworthy and deceitful, but she was finally seeing clear evidence she could show to others and let them know how wrong it was, but she didn't.

It had been two hours since she first arrived and she hadn't been detected yet. However it wasn't going to last long and she knew she had little time left. After searching for a name and finding no information she didn't already know, Jess copied all of the files she thought were important or interesting and transferred them to her flash drive. However the files she could take were limited by the security protocol she couldn't breach.

''Should be done soon,'' she told Zac as she pushed her chair back.

As she looked up through the glass surrounding them, Jess saw a very familiar face casually walking through the entrance.

''Oh, shit!'' she gasped and ducked her head down, hiding it behind the computer screen as she lowered her head onto the desk.

Zac turned to her, panicked.

''What? What happened?'' he asked worriedly, looking out to see what she was hiding from.

''That guy cannot see me here,'' she told him desperately.

''That guy?'' he looked up again. ''You...you mean Captain America?''

''Yeah, he can't see me, okay?''

''Why? I told you my story would work, it's fine,''

''No,'' she shook her head. ''I know him, and he'll see me and there'll be a whole lot of questions,''

''You know Captain America?''

''Keep your voice down!'' Jess snapped.

''That's something you probably should have told me before-''

''You didn't need to know,'' Jess told him as she reached up and grabbed the flash drives from the computer. ''I gotta get out of here Zac, thanks for everything though,''

* * *

The first thing Jess done when she got back to her apartment was change out of her awful 'I.T Student' clothes and let her hair out. The flash drives were put into her desk drawer ready to be investigated later that night. She couldn't believe how close she had come to Steve seeing her at SHIELD. She should have been more careful, but it was over now and she wouldn't have to go back there again.

Jess put on some music as she stretched and yawned, happy to be home. As she laid her head back on the couch and closed her eyes, trying to relax from the amount of things that had happened that day, she got another phone call. One she'd been waiting for all day and she was scared to answer.

''Hello?'' she spoke in a shaky voice.

Her eyes went from wide with hope and fear to low with grief. She listened to the person speaking, leaning forward to lay her head in her hand. Jess didn't know how to respond, so when the person finally stopped speaking, she dropped her phone to the floor.

Jess sat in silence staring at the floor as she went over the conversation in her head again. There was nothing she could do.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there before someone started knocking on her door, drawing her attention. She slowly walked over, her expression still blank as if she was in shock. When she opened the door and stepped outside her door, she was confronted with someone she was never in the mood for, especially not now.

''I don't know what's more frustrating, that music continually playing or the fact I have to keep reminding you that you have neighbors,'' the woman folded her arms.

Jess just stared at the woman, wondering how someone could be so worried and flustered over something so stupid and small. She'd been in this building for months now and the only neighbors that had spoken to her was this woman who only complained about everything she did.

''I don't care,'' Jess shrugged. ''I just...I really don't care,''

The woman was taken aback.

''Excuse me?''

''I don't care!'' Jess raised her voice, turning back to her door which was now closed. ''Oh, this is great. What a great day,''

The woman stood and stared at Jess, taking a few steps back to her own apartment as she watched her become angrier. Jess walked around in circles for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. Too much was going on, she needed time to get it all together.

''Argh!'' Jess screamed as she kicked her door.

The woman ran off back to her apartment then, closing her door as she heard Jess continue kicking.

She didn't know why she was so angry, but something had just exploded within her and she had to get it out. Kicking the door was making a very loud echo through the whole building, but she kept going, even throwing in some punches before she began sobbing.

''I didn't get to go back!'' she yelled at the door, punching against it violently. ''Stupid! Stupid!''

The door was beginning to get holes in it where she had repeatedly hit against it as she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning her around with strong hands and stopping her.

''Jess!'' Steve's voice was loud in her ears. ''Stop!''

Jess stopped struggling against him as she looked around at the many neighbors now outside their doors, staring at her disapprovingly and in fear. When she looked back at Steve who was staring back at her worriedly, she couldn't help the tears that she'd been holding back. She began crying as Steve loosened his grip on her, slipping down to kneel on the floor, her head in her hands.

''Jess, what's going on?'' Steve knelt down beside her, a comforting hand on her back now. ''Talk to me,''

''I'm all alone, I'm the only one left,'' she cried, shaking her head.

''What do you mean?''

''My mom died. She'd dead, I'm the only one left,'' she tried to take a breath. ''I'm all alone,''

* * *

**I hope you guys are liking this story and where it's going. Steve will be much more involved in the next chapter I promise, and hopefully a lot more will be explained. PLEASE REVIEW so I know if anyone wants me to continue or likes this story, and if you have any questions or guesses as to where it's going.**

**Also, I know hacking into SHIELD wouldn't be that easy, but hey, it's fanfiction, and it'll be explained more how Jess was able to do it. **


	4. Barnes

Steve managed to calm Jess down enough to walk her upstairs to his apartment, glaring at the neighbors who stood outside staring disapprovingly. It was the first time Steve had seen her so upset or even shed a tear. It was also the first time she ever mentioned having contact with her family.

Jess walked inside and sat down on Steve's couch, leaning down to put her head in her hands. She hated how she'd acted moments ago downstairs, but she had to get it out. The anger, the frustration, she needed a release. This whole day had been a mess of a mixture of things, she just wanted it to end.

''Here,''

She looked up to see Steve holding out a glass of water to her, a light and comforting smile on his face.

''Thanks,''

Taking a sip of the cool water, she felt the couch dip next to her where Steve now sat. She didn't like burdening him like this, he didn't need to deal with her problems. If he knew what she had been doing that day, stealing from the organization he worked so hard to protect people's freedom for, she didn't know if he'd be this willing to help her out.

''I'm sorry about your mom,'' he told her quietly.

Jess looked over to him with a nod, appreciating his words. She knew she hadn't really let him into her personal life, she hadn't even told him a single word about her family, but there was a good reason for it.

''Was she sick?'' he asked gently.

''Yeah,'' Jess took another sip of water before sitting back on the couch further and pulling a pillow into her lap.

''But I guess she was old, too. She had me later in her life when she was like 48, but when I was 16 my dad died and she didn't handle it well, stopped taking care of herself and, well, I guess she never got better. I tried to take care of her as much as I could, but I was still a kid, I didn't know what I was doing. A year later they put her into full time care and tried to get me into a foster home, so that's when I left,''

''You ran away?''

''Until I was 18 and they couldn't put me in the system,'' she nodded. ''I went back to see my mom, but she'd gotten worse. She developed early-onset Alzheimer's disease. For the past year she hasn't remembered me and it only upset her every time I visited, so I just stopped,''

Steve had no idea so much had been going on in her life. He never wanted to pry, but he had always wondered.

''I mean I was always closer with my dad, but...she was my mom, and she didn't know who I was. I'm my family's sole survivor and I'm a week away from turning 21,'' she shook her head. ''It's not right,''

Steve put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. He knew what it was like to lose loved ones and especially to be the only one left. Although their situations and circumstanced were much different, this was just another thing they had in common.

''You're not gonna be all alone, you know?'' Steve looked down at her. ''I won't let that happen,''

''You don't know a lot of things about me,'' she told him sadly, knowing just how much she was hiding.

''I know whatever you want me to know, and that's okay,'' he smiled. ''You're my friend, you won't be alone,''

* * *

Jess woke up the next morning to the sun shining onto her face as she laid on Steve's couch. She had been so upset the night before that it exhausted her. It still didn't feel right knowing that her mother had died, that she really was the last one of her family left. There was no uncles and aunts, no brothers or sisters, it was just Jess now.

She'd always been a very independent person, she didn't need people around her constantly, but she always knew there was at least one person still out there who she could call family. Now they were gone, just like the rest, and she was angry.

''I got your key,'' Steve walked over, noticing her sitting up awake. ''I explained I was a good friend of Jessica Bennett and was concerned you left on some appliances. Building manager's a bit too trusting,''

''Everyone trusts Captain America,'' she pointed out. ''Thanks. And thanks for everything, really,''

''Don't worry about it. Do you want some coffee? Breakfast?''

Jess looked up at him, seeing how much he was trying to make her feel better and comfort her. He knew nothing he could do would make up for losing her mother, but he cared about her.

''Sure,'' she smiled lightly. ''It'll be nice to have some breakfast instead of serving it for once,''

She sat there for a moment, running over everything that happened in her head. She'd have to get a flight out of town today and sort everything out for her mother, something she wasn't looking forward to doing. Jess didn't want to keep thinking of it, but it was the only thing she could think of.

''Did the manager say anything about my broken door?''

''Uh,'' Steve shrugged. ''I think some neighbors might have told him a little about-''

''Yeah, figured that,'' she shook her head. ''Not one of my best moments,''

''Hey don't worry about it, they had no idea what you were and are going through,''

''Well, at least they won't have to see me for a few days. I have to go back home to Brooklyn and deal with everything,'' she hung her head low, the thought upsetting her.

Steve looked over to her immediately, realizing she'd never actually told him about her home before, or where it even was.

''Brooklyn?''

Jess looked up, realizing she hadn't told him that before.

''Uh, yeah. I mean I've moved around a lot, but Brooklyn's where I was born and where I grew up, mostly,''

''Why didn't you tell me that before?''

Jess shrugged.

''I don't know, I haven't been back in a while, I go from place to place a lot,'' she defended. ''I have many homes I guess,''

Steve walked over and handed her the coffee, putting his hands on his hips and shaking his head.

''Huh, I guess there _is_ a few things I don't know about you,''

''I did warn you,''

* * *

It was a few hours later when Jess was ready to leave. She hadn't been back home to Brooklyn for over a year, she didn't know what to expect. When her father died, it had crushed her. Her mother took care of the arrangements since Jess was only 16, but now she was gone. Jess had to do this all on her own, this was her family and she was going to take care of it herself.

Walking down from Steve's apartment, she'd ran into some of her neighbors who had witnessed her dramatic meltdown the night before, but she just kept walking. After packing a light bag and making sure everything important, including documents and information that involved SHIELD, was locked up she grabbed the flash drives and took them with her.

''You all set?'' Steve asked when she walked out of her apartment.

''I think so,'' she nodded.

Steve walked her out of the building where her taxi was waiting and asked her again if she was sure she wanted to do this on her own. However Jess was quite stubborn and politely declined his offer to go with her again. He tried his best to look out for her, but he had to remind himself she in face wasn't a child. She'd make it this far on her own, she was more than capable.

''Call if you need anything then,'' he insisted.

''I will. Oh, would you mind just telling Joe at the diner that I'll be gone for a few days, I totally forgot,''

''No problem,''

Jess smiled in appreciation before she moved close to hug him. She may have been the last one in her family left, alone in that sense, but she was glad to have someone like Steve. He was not only a great friend, but he was the only one she had. Her gratefulness soon turned to guilt though when she reminded herself of just how much he didn't know about her, about how much she was hiding from him.

''Travel safe,'' he told her before she leaned down to pick up her bag.

''I'll see you when I get back,'' she opened the door to the taxi. ''Hey don't turn your music on, the neighbors might start to pick on you now that I'm gone,''

* * *

It was just like she remembered it. In fact it was exactly how she remembered it considering no one had been here since then. Her home had dust mingling in the air, cracks in the walls and creaky floorboards, but it was still her home. The place she grew up in, where she was shaped and molded into the person she was today.

Photos still hung on the wall of her family, once happy and all together. A reminder that she hadn't always been alone, things hadn't always been like this.

Jess ran her fingers along the glass of the photo frame, tracing over the faces of her parents the dust and spiderwebs collected beneath her fingertips. Her mother and father, young at heart, smiling happily with their five year old daughter.

''At least you guys are together now,'' she whispers, tears stinging her eyes. ''I love you both,''

She stared at the photo for a while longer, trying to burn that image into her mind. When she thought of her dad she wanted to remember his smile and how he made her laugh and when she thought of her mom she wanted to remember how caring she was, her sweetness. She was alone now, but they'd always be watching over her, she knew.

The house still had power and water thanks to the fund her father set up before he died, making sure Jess and her mother had a home, but he couldn't predict what would happen to them, that it would become abandoned for so long. The house would belong to Jess now.

It wasn't long before Jess had to go to sort things out. She had been putting it off ever since her plane landed, but she couldn't any longer. Once she went and signed all the paperwork and organized a funeral and all of that, it would be official. Her mother would be gone, and she hated thinking about it.

When she arrived at the care facility where her mother had been living, the nurses didn't look twice at her. Of course they wouldn't recognize her, she rarely visited.

''Hi, I'm uh, not sure what to do. My mother Alice passed away yesterday,'' Jess walked over to the woman at reception.

''Oh I'm sorry sweetie,'' the woman looked at her sympathetically. ''Can I have your name?''

''Jessica Barnes,''

* * *

**So I hope you guys like this? Anyway I have a whole plot thing planned out so I hope you get into the story because I'm sure it'll get better from this point onwards! Please review **


	5. An Easy Friendship

The funeral was quiet and minimal, just enough to draw attention from old family friends that Jess didn't know. Her mother was laid to rest next to her father at a Brooklyn cemetery. They'd be side by side forever now, nothing would take them apart again.

Jess stared out the window of the plane as she noticed the tops of buildings peeking out over the clouds. The past four days hadn't been quite a holiday, but she did miss Brooklyn. Going back and visiting her home, looking at family photos and reminiscing memories she hadn't thought about for a long time. Brooklyn was home, no matter where she traveled and lived, no matter where she ended up after all of this, that wasn't going to change. It held all the good memories in her life.

It felt as though she hadn't even left the city when she returned to her building, throwing her bag over her shoulder as she began to climb the stairs to her floor. She was glad she left so suddenly after the night she found out about her mother's death, she didn't have to face her neighbors or their glaring eyes for a few days after what had happened.

_Miss Bennett, there have been three noise complaints and another complaint of violent behavior at your apartment. Please maintain a level of respect and maturity within the building otherwise further action will be taken. Brad - manager._

Jess shook her head as she tore the note off her door, scrunching it up in her hands. She wasn't expecting a welcoming party, but a warning note from the manager wasn't the best greeting.

A few hours passed since Jess had been home before she heard knocking at her door. She closed her laptop, pausing her scan over all of her files she'd taken from SHIELD that she had only just started looking at. There was only one person who actually visited her at her apartment, so she wasn't surprised to see Steve Rogers standing outside her door.

''You're back,'' he smiled.

''Missed me, huh?'' she smirked as she held the door open for him to walk in.

''Missed you? No way. I'm just up to the last Pirates of The Caribbean movie and you said you'd kill me if I watched it without you,'' Steve grinned as he leaned against her couch.

''Yeah 'cause I need to see your expression when you see how disappointing it is,'' Jess laughed as she closed the door.

Steve watched as she threw the cushions to one side of the couch and sat in front of them, pulling her knees up to rest her chin on as he took a seat next to her. He'd missed her while she was gone. Although he'd been busy as well with SHIELD business as usual, it still didn't feel right coming home late at night without Jess walking home from work and meeting him outside or stopping him on the way to his apartment to talk or watch a movie. He valued their friendship very much because unlike everything else in his life, it was easy.

''How are you doing?'' he asked seriously.

''I'm fine, Steve. It was nothing I didn't see coming, not that that made it suck any less, but y'know, you deal with it,'' she explained. ''Don't worry about me,''

There was a moment of silence as Steve nodded in understanding, but Jess didn't want to talk about everything that had happened in her life the past few days, she wanted a distraction and since snooping through SHIELD information wasn't an option right now, she settled for making it a night in hanging out with Steve.

''Want some cocoa? I make it pretty good, like sixty percent chocolate, it's perfect,'' Jess asked, standing up and making her way over to the kitchen bench. ''What have I missed around here? Anything remotely interesting?''

''I think the hall got a new light bulb installed,'' Steve told her jokingly.

''Huh, too bad I missed that,''

''How was Brooklyn?''

''Brooklyn,'' Jess shrugged. ''Not much has changed since last time I was there,''

Steve nodded.

''Wish I could say the same,''

Jess looked over to him with a comforting smile, knowing that he was still struggling with adjusting to everything.

''I still can't believe you didn't tell me we're from the same neighborhood,'' he shook his head.

''Small world I guess,'' she put aside the issue, handing Steve a cup of warm cocoa.

''So it's your birthday in like three days, right?''

Jess rolled her eyes and groaned.

''Please don't make a fuss over my birthday,'' she glared at him. ''I could honestly care less that-''

''That you're turning 21?'' Steve finished. ''A milestone age. The adult age?''

''I've been an adult for years, turning 21 makes no difference to me,''

''Fine, if you don't wanna celebrate it then I guess that means you don't want a present or anything, huh?''

Jess turned to look at him with an annoyed expression.

''Nope,'' she told him stubbornly.

''That's too bad,'' Steve shrugged, looking pleased with himself.

''Why don't you go grab that movie and we'll watch the last Pirates of The Sea movie?'' she sat back with a smirk on her lips.

''Never gonna let that go, are you?''

* * *

It was two days later when Jess had enough time to go back to her laptop and go through certain files. Everything she was looking for at SHIELD, she was unable to get to, but the files she did manage to copy weren't entirely useless to her. She knew that Secretary Pierce had been approving operations and missions that hadn't been lodged in SHIELD's system, which made her pry even more.

That night when she was at the docks and saw those men, she was sure that they were the suspects that the agents were targeting, but now that she thought about it and everything else SHIELD was covering up, it became clear to her. They weren't the suspects, they were the agents. They were SHIELD.

''What the hell Pierce?'' she whispered as she scrolled down the screen.

SHIELD covering up their actions and hiding things was not a new revelation to Jess, and she couldn't help losing interest as she kept looking. A week ago, she would have been reading over these files as close as possible, but her motivation had been shaken after her mother's death. Doing all of this, being the person she was, it had gotten in the way of so many things in her life. Her father taught her everything she knew, he was her driving force behind finding the truth in everything, he told her all of the stories about his father that she was chasing now, but he wasn't here anymore. Her mother was all she had left and now she was gone too. Everyone was gone, she didn't know what she was fighting for anymore.

Jess kept scrolling down the complex lists of operations, yawning as she paid little attention to the words, until she saw the date on one of them. Two days from now. It was the only operation that hadn't been completed or she hadn't missed. It had no explanation and no location, but it had been approved. It was an empty slot in a long list of detailed missions.

The only other mission that wasn't detailed and had been approved was the one at the docks. They almost matched in their vagueness. Something would be happening that night.

* * *

Jess woke up to a bright, sunny morning in Washington as she looked out her bedroom window. The sun was warm on her arms as she spread out on her bed yawning, not wanting to get out of bed. There was no reason to anyway. She had the day off work and had no business to attend to anywhere, which made her remember the date. She groaned when she realized, burying her face in her pillow as she heard someone knocking on her door with perfect timing.

It was her birthday.

''No!'' she called out, knowing who it was.

''Oh come on, open up!'' Steve continued knocking.

''Hey I just remembered it was my birthday last month not this month, totally flew right by me, so just forget about it,'' she argued.

''Jessica Bennet, please open the door or I'll just break it down and you only just got the new one,''

Jess pulled herself out of bed with a loud groan of annoyance, thumping her feet against the ground as she walked over. She opened the door with a grumpy expression, folding her arms as she stared at Steve.

''No presents, no fuss, right?'' Steve held his hands up in surrender.

''Hmm,'' she squinted, suspicious.

''However I _do _want to take you out for breakfast. That's all I ask, then I won't bother you for the rest of the day, no one will know it's your birthday,''

Steve stared at her with a pleading grin, hoping she'd agree. It was hard to read her when she stared back at him with mixed expressions, but she soon sighed and gave an answer.

''Fine. But it's the free food that caught my attention, not he fact it's for my birthday,'' she warned.

''Fine by me,''

Jess had taken all of ten minutes to get dressed and ready to go. They wouldn't be going anywhere fancy because she simply wouldn't allow him to do that for her. She understood he was just being a friend and wanting to celebrate, but Jess didn't care for her birthday at all, especially when she had no family to share it with. It wasn't the first time she'd been alone for her birthday, but it was the first that she had no option about.

Walking downstairs, Jess was glad to see Steve just as casually dressed as she was. They'd probably be going to the diner to eat, she didn't mind, but she hoped her boss and coworkers forgot about her birthday to avoid any awkward birthday songs or cake.

''To the diner?'' she asked, walking outside as Steve held open the door.

''Wherever you want to go,'' he shrugged, handing her a key.

Jess stared at the key for a moment before looking back up at Steve, confused. He was standing there looking around as if he hadn't just handed her something, waiting for her to pick a place to go eat.

''What's this?''

''I think it's a key,''

''Steve, seriously, what as it?''

Jess watched as he pointed toward a car parked by the curb. It was silver and shiny, but it wasn't brand new. Steve knew Jess would kill him if he did that. But it was a car, and it was in really good condition, and he'd just handed her the key to it.

''I think it might unlock that one, I don't know,'' he grinned, enjoying himself.

Jess shook her head, holding the key out to him.

''No, no, no, no. You can't do that,'' she walked closer to him as he stepped back. ''Steve, don't be crazy! This is a car,''

''I know,''

''So you cannot give me a car!" she held out the keys again. ''That's way too much, it's beyond too much. I said no presents!''

''You told me you got your permit when you were 16 but never learnt properly,'' he reminded her. ''Don't think of it as a present but more like a...well I guess it is a present,''

Jess looked at him as she continued to shake her head.

''You really didn't have to do this. I mean, this is a car, not a box of chocolates or a gift voucher, it's a car!'' she shouted. ''You got me a car!''

''You can go more places now, and it's one less thing you have to save up for,''

''Steve, really, you didn't have to spend so much on me,''

''It's nothing,'' he shook his head. ''Really. You'd be surprised what 70 years of saving up and receiving would amount to,''

Jess looked over to the car again and let herself smile and appreciate what she was being given. She didn't want to accept it, but Steve was insistent. She walked over and put her arms around him, hugging him tight and she smiled.

''This is totally crazy and unnecessary,'' she told him.

''You'll get over it,'' he chuckled, hugging her back.

* * *

**Thought I'd do a chapter of Steve/Jess bonding and show their relationship a bit more. Will get more into detail next chapter and it'll become a lot more intense as discoveries are made. Please review!**


	6. Closer To The Truth

''I think I've got it,'' Jess nodded, interrupting Steve's instructions. ''Look, it's fine, I'm totally driving like a normal person,''

Steve looked up at the road, trying not to panic as Jess swerved between lanes. To be fair, she wasn't being dangerous but her driving was so erratic and messy that he thought they were going to end up being abused by the other drivers on the road. Steve didn't have a car of his own, preferring to ride his motorcycle, but he knew how to drive well enough to show her the basics and help her however he could.

''Regret buying this for me yet?'' Jess looked over to him, noticing him tensing up as she turned a corner.

''Whoa watch the road!'' he warned.

''I've got it! Calm down!'' she shook her head. ''I _have _driven a car before, just not...on a busy road or anything like this, but have some faith in me, my confidence is being really shaken here,''

Steve managed to let his grip of the dashboard go when they got onto a straight road, knowing she couldn't do anything too dangerous here. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but she was a lot more daring than he thought.

''I don't regret buying it,'' he finally answered her, sitting back into the seat more.

''It was way too much,'' she told him for the hundredth time. ''Seriously, I still can't believe you bought me a car. I've never had my own car, this is...insane,''

''I don't have many people in my life anymore that I like enough or trust enough to consider a real friend. People are full of secrets these days, both the bag guys and the good guys, so it's nice to have you as a friend,'' he smiled.

Jess had never felt so guilty. Steve trusted her, he believed she was a completely genuine person, and she had been hiding so much from him. Stealing from SHIELD, spying on missions, some involving Steve, hiding her motives and her real identity. She was just as bad as the people Steve despised. There had been so many times that Jess had wanted to tell him what her real name was, who her family was and explain everything to him, but she couldn't. Steve was still struggling to let go of those memories, she didn't want to bring them all back after hiding it for so long.

When she first came to this city after many others, her last intention was to become friends with Steve Rogers, the legendary Captain America and the man who fought alongside Bucky Barnes, his best friend. But when she met him and they began talking, she wanted to know him more. She wanted to know the man she'd heard so many stories about, and not just the stories in the books and historical articles and memorials. She wanted to know the man her family did.

But it was too late to explain anything. If he found out what she'd been doing, he wouldn't trust her ever again, or even believe her at all.

''But having this car comes with a catch,'' Steve began, breaking Jess away from her thoughts as usual.

''A catch?'' she looked over to him worriedly.

''You can't use it to run away,''

Jess stared back at him as they slowed down to a stop sign.

''I know you've been going from place to place since you were a kid, and you just lost your mom and that you think you're gonna be all alone. I know that'd be reason enough for me to run away from anywhere, but you're not alone, okay? You've got me,'' he told her sincerely. ''So don't run away, and if you feel like you need to, just come talk to me,''

Smiling, Jess tried not to let her eyes tear up too much as Steve's gesture. He really cared about her, he didn't want her to feel abandoned in this world or like she had no other option but to leave another home. It was all too much. The car, the promise that she wouldn't be alone, the fact that he was much too good of a friend to her, someone who didn't deserve such kindness.

* * *

Jess was walking around her living room a few days later, fastening a belt around her pants as she attached a few weapons to it. It was the night of the unknown operation and although she had no idea what was going on or if anything at all was going to take place, she planned to find out what was going on. It wasn't as if she'd gain anything personally from it, but the idea of Secretary Pierce approving any operation that seemed so questionable was intriguing to her.

She had been holding her phone to her ear for a few minutes, huffing in annoyance every time her call was redirected to voice mail.

''Zac, if you haven't gotten my last two messages then I don't know what you're even doing. I need some information, nothing major so don't freak out, but it'd be really great if you got back to me within like ten minutes okay?''

Jess slipped her phone back into her pocket, taking Zac's inability to answer as an answer in itself. When he helped her get into SHIELD and take those files, look into their systems, that had been enough for him. Jess always provided him with money or some technical support in regards to his cheating girlfriend for his efforts to help her out, but she supposed he didn't want any part in it anymore.

It was lucky she always had a good sense of direction. She didn't dare take her car that night, it wasn't even an option. She had to be careful and make sure nothing could trace back to her if SHIELD was actually there or something went wrong. She wasn't expecting an eventful night though, she wasn't even sure anything was going on at all, but her curiosity had always been a weakness.

Back at the docks she remembered, it was exactly what she'd been expecting. Absolutely nothing was going on. She'd been chasing nothing. She'd been there for almost two hours, sitting around on one of the roofs hoping that the night hadn't been completely wasted. Every now and then she checked her phone to see if Zac had called back, but there was nothing. It was a waste of time.

Just as she was going to leave, she heard footsteps against the ground below and ducked down quickly, peeking over the edge.

''Is Sitwell back yet?'' one of them asked.

There were two men standing on the ground facing one another but glancing around to make sure they were alone. For some reason, the name Sitwell sounded familiar to Jess, but she couldn't place the reason why.

''No, the boat's comin' in now. He won't be coming here though, SHIELD will want to talk to him,''

Jess was glad she didn't leave. This did involve SHIELD, but she wasn't sure how just yet. These men didn't sound like agents, but they could have been undercover. The docks they were at was almost abandoned, no boats or ships came here anymore, she didn't know why they had chosen this as their location.

''Did you talk to the guy in charge?'' one of the men asked, emphasizing his question.

''I did. It's been called off for now, but he wants us here to make sure no one shows up,''

''And if they do?''

''Then they weren't invited. We take care of them,''

Jess moved back away from the edge of the building, hoping they weren't going to do a sweep of the place. There was no way she could get down and get away if they stood there the entire time.

''Let's just hope Captain America doesn't show up,''

The name made Jess pause, another thing to worry about.

''Pierce wouldn't let them send him over here,'' one of the men laughed. ''That's the perk of being in charge,''

Pierce had sent them and was in charge of whatever was going on. Whatever was meant to be happening tonight, he had organized. He was corrupt.

It would have been a good idea to leave now, to get away before they started searching or in case anyone else showed up. But Jess wanted answers. If Pierce was behind this, she wanted to know what it was about and what else he had planned.

She looked down at her legs to see the bulges underneath her pants and reached down to pull a gun from each side. She checked it over and made sure it was ready to go before she took a deep breath, shook her head at how stupid she was being, and jumped down from the short building.

''Don't reach for your gun,'' she told the men as she jumped up, a gun in each hand pointed directly at them both.

The men had their hands at their pockets, but as Jess gestured with the guns, they raised them up above their head.

''If you're looking to rob us kid-''

''Hey, I'm not a kid,'' she cut in angrily. ''And I want answers, not cash. What was going on here tonight?''

The men looked between one another.

''What are you, training to be a cop or something?''

''I want to know about Pierce. You know, the guy in charge of this thing. Don't play stupid now guys, come on. Here, I'll help you out. Pierce sent you here tonight for a reason, but then it all fell through. I want to know what it was,''

''You're getting into dangerous things now kid,''

Jess took a step closer to the man who spoke and pushed the gun to his chest, making him move back and hold his hands up higher.

''Don't call me kid,'' she growled. ''I want to know what Pierce is doing! What is SHIELD hiding!''

''SHIELD,'' the other man laughed. ''Here's a little tip sweetie. Focus less on what they're hiding and more on what's being hidden from them,''

Jess stared at the man.

''I know you weren't SHIELD,''

The man stopped talking them, a smirk on his lips as if he knew so much more than she did. While Jess stared at him, waiting for his response, the other man hit her arm hard and knocked the gun from it. As she turned, the other man attacked, twisting her arm and holding it behind her head.

''What the hell do you know?'' he asked, pushing her arm until she winced.

''Enough,'' she told him in a pained voice.

Jess ducked her head and pulled the man's arm over hers, throwing him to the ground. She stood up with a deep breath and ran to the other man who had been watching on. Jess jumped onto his back and pulled her arms around his head, directing him into the concrete wall nearby. The man grabbed her and threw her backwards, hearing the thump as her head hit the same wall before he did.

Standing up hurt, everything hurt, but she knew she had to run now or she wouldn't get away. The men were on the ground with minor injuries, they'd be chasing her soon, so she ran as fast as she could. Her vision was blurry though from her head hitting against the wall and she was sure she was concussed, but she couldn't risk stopping.

''We'll find you kid!'' the man shouted.

It was a stupid idea coming here and expecting nothing. SHIELD was truly corrupt, it wasn't just a theory anymore. Pierce was behind something sketchy, he was controlling people who weren't SHIELD and he was in charge of an operation that certainly wasn't SHIELD. She'd gotten too close, but now she knew she was onto something this whole time. It hadn't just been her paranoia or her constant inability to trust that SHIELD was doing anything for the good of the people. She had been right this whole time.

* * *

**Not a fan of this chapter but I wanted to get this part over and done with because the next chapter will be pretty intense I think. Review and let me know what you think :)**


	7. A Piece of The Truth

Jess had managed to hide away for a few days in her apartment after that night. She had to stop at the hospital on the way home after discovering a cut on her head from her run in with the men, needing stitches and some medication to help with her concussion. It wasn't her best idea to interfere with them that night, but at least now she had some answers, however confusing they were.

Pierce was running something within SHIELD that no one else knew about. Pierce had access to everything, he was the highest ranking person in the organization, he had the most power over everything. Jess always knew SHIELD wasn't honest or trustworthy, but she didn't expect something like this.

Looking over files and trying to hack into a database to identify the men she saw that night, Jess didn't mind being cooped up in her apartment. She had even more time off work which she was sure would annoy her boss, but she couldn't go out with stitches running down to the top of her forehead. She'd managed to tell Steve she'd been sick and had been sleeping through the days, but she knew she couldn't hide from him forever. Just long enough to figure out what to tell him.

There had been so many time she wanted to tell him everything, the truth. Explain to him who she was and why she was doing all of this, but she just didn't know how. Steve was a loyal man, he wouldn't understand or agree with her method of getting information from SHIELD, and he'd never trust her again.

Jess was pulled from her thoughts as her phone began ringing, making her groan as she reached across the couch to grab it.

''Jess, it's Zac,'' he told her hurriedly as she answered. ''You have to listen to me real quick, okay?''

''What's going on?'' Jess asked. ''I've been trying to call you for days-''

''They know, Jess. They know someone got into the system and they got security footage of you and they face traced you,''

''They can't, I cleared my records,'' Jess sat up, alert.

''Well they found your real records and probably every other record you've wiped. They questioned me but I swear I didn't tell them anything, not that I could anyway because I don't know what you're looking for. They're coming for you Jess, I don't know when but they are. I needed to let you know, you have to get away before they find you,''

Jess kicked against the couch angrily, standing up and rushing over to her laptop to shut down the files she was looking at. Not only did they find out she'd hacked into SHIELD's system, but they knew her real name and her real history.

''Who even found out about me getting into the system? It was weeks ago!''

''A few days ago Secretary Pierce starting looking into things, said he had a description of who he was looking for and that they were trying to infiltrate SHIELD or something, I don't know, that's what we were told when they started scanning over everything in our computers and their systems with some new software to detect something, look I don't know all of that Jess, I just know that they know it was you and if Pierce was the one who organized this whole thing, this search for you or whatever, then I'd get out of town,''

''Getting out of town won't stop SHIELD finding me,'' Jess shook her head.

''Maybe not, but consider this your head start,''

Jess was silent for a moment, going over in her head what was going on. This was bad. This was worse than bad. Everything she'd worked for to get to this point meant nothing. Her motives, her identity, what she'd been doing, it was all laid out for SHIELD to see and they were coming for her. Pierce ordered the whole thing. She should have been more careful when dealing with those men, she had no idea they'd go as far as to begin a search for her.

Pierce knew that she knew. Whatever he was trying to hide, he was coming after her to protect it.

''Thank you Zac, I can take it from here,''

''Good luck,''

Jess put her phone down, taking a deep breath before she started with the first part of her impromptu plan. Getting out of here.

* * *

There wasn't enough time for another bag. There wasn't even enough time for one, but if Jess was going to run, she was going to make sure she took whatever she could. Flash drives of information she'd collected over the years, documents she would need if leaving the country or travelling, a few clothes, weapons in case she ran into trouble and any piece of personal information she could find.

She changed from her comfortable clothes and into the clothing she'd wear if following a mission. Easy to run in and easy to escape in. SHIELD would chase her anywhere she went and she didn't plan of stopping.

''Hey Jess?''

Jess turned her head quick, eyes wide with worry as she heard the voice at the door. Steve.

''I know you're in there, I could hear you mumbling to yourself,'' he chuckled. ''Come on, I brought you some food to help you feel better,''

He didn't sound like he was coming to take her back to Pierce. He wasn't on a mission. He didn't know.

''Uh,'' she looked around. ''I'm still pretty sick Steve,''

''That's why I brought you some food. Come on, I haven't seen you for days,''

She couldn't leave like this. It would be easier, but she just couldn't do it. He didn't know about what was going on. Pierce was being secretive as always, he didn't want questions raised as to why he was looking for her. But if she told Steve, they'd come after him also. This was her problem, it always was, that's why she didn't tell him who she really was.

She had no motive when it came to Steve. She didn't use him for information, she didn't tell him who she was to get anything from him. He was like her best friend, she couldn't drag him into it.

''Not now Steve,'' she called out in a more annoyed tone, trying to make him leave.

''Hey, are you okay?''

''Just go and eat your food. I'm not in the mood, I'm sorry,''

There was a moment of silence.

''What's going on?''

Jess groaned when she tried to slip a photo of her parents into her bag, dropping the photo frame onto the ground and smashing it.

''Nothing!'' she shouted.

Before she could even say any more, Steve opened the door which apparently she hadn't locked like she thought and walked in. He looked worried at first until he saw the bag in her hand, bursting with her belongings and how fast she was rushing around the living room. There was no point stopping what she was doing. Whether Steve knew or not, she still had to go.

''You're leaving,'' he spoke in a low voice.

Jess looked up to him sadly, disappointed in herself.

''I have to,''

''No you don't,'' he argued. ''Tell me what's going on?''

''I can't,'' she shook her head, putting her bag on her back.

Steve noticed the stitches on her head then.

''How'd that happen?''

''Steve,'' she looked at him, a calm voice. ''Let it go. I have to get out of here now, I'm sorry,''

Jess tried to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm tight and stopped her.

''What is going on?'' he asked with a serious tone.

''I can't tell you what's going on,'' she shook her head. ''I want to, but it's too complicated for right now. I have to go-''

''You can't just leave. Not after everything that's happened. I told you I'd be here for you, you promised you wouldn't leave again. Just because you think you're alone and you're not-''

''That's not why I'm leaving. I know I promised you and here, take the keys,'' she tossed them to him.

Steve put his hands on his hip, trying to understand why she was doing this.

''What are you mixed up in?'' he asked. ''I can help you, just tell me what's going on,''

Jess shook her head and looked at him, tears welling in her eyes. He'd been such a good friend to her, he'd been there through everything and she was just going to walk away and leave, go right back on the promise she made him only days ago.

''You can't help me Steve, not this time,'' she looked to him. ''All you've ever done was help me and I've lied to you,''

Steve took a step closer.

''About what?''

''About me. About who I am. I can't explain it to you now, it's...it's complicated and I want to tell you, just not now. But Steve, whatever they tell you, I did it all for a good reason and I hope I can explain that all to you one day. I'd hate for you to believe what they're going to say about me and the person I am and they're going to make me out to be someone I'm not, just please don't believe them,''

Steve was even more worried now.

''Who?'' he asked, but Jess just shook her head. ''Jess, you gotta tell me what's going on, I can't let you go when I don't know what you're running from,''

''I'm running from the past I brought on myself,'' she shrugged. ''Somehow I'll explain everything to you when I can, but for now...I'm sorry,'' she began walking to the door.

Steve watched, knowing she wasn't going to tell him what was going on. At least not yet. Whatever she was running from, it was coming soon and she had to get away. He could only narrow it down to a family matter. She'd been going from place to place since she was a kid, maybe he should have stayed out of it. But he worried about her.

''Jess, wait,'' he called out as she reached the door, pulling on the hood of her jacket to cover her face. ''Take it,''

Jess watched the keys fly through the air as Steve tossed them to her.

''It's yours anyway. If you need to go, I trust you, just be careful,''

She looked down at the keys, realizing just how much Steve did trust her. Jess was running away again after promising she wouldn't and yet he was still allowing her to take the car he'd bought for her. She was a horrible person in comparison to him.

Jess looked up, knowing she owed Steve something, she owed him everything actually. But if she didn't get to run far, if SHIELD got to her or something worse, she wanted him to know who she really was. Even if it raised a million questions she wouldn't be here to answer, she wanted him to know something she'd been keeping from him.

''My name isn't Jessica Bennett,''

Steve stared at her, his eyes focusing on hers as he listened.

''It's Jessica Barnes,'' she nodded. ''That's my name, that's who my family is,''

Steve's eyes widened as he thought over in his head if he was hearing her right or if he was drawing the right conclusion. Barnes. The only name coming to his mind was Bucky, but it couldn't be possible. Then again, he couldn't be sure. When he blinked, he looked over to the now wide open door and saw that Jess was gone.


	8. It All Begins

Steve couldn't believe how much had happened within the last 24 hours. So many things didn't make sense to him anymore, he had questions about everything and he didn't know who to trust enough to ask. The life he'd been living since he had woken up in New York after almost 70 years didn't seem like it did before. He always knew that not everyone in this world was truthful and that everyone had their secrets, but he didn't expect so much of them to come out in just a couple of hours.

After Jess had left, Steve stood in her apartment for a while trying to piece things together. She wouldn't have hidden her real name from him without a good reason, but he didn't know how it was possible for her to have any connection at all to the man he knew as Bucky Barnes. He wanted answers, but he had no idea where she'd gone or who she was running from.

When he finally left and walked up to his apartment, he had no idea he'd be walking into a whole other chaos.  
Fury was waiting in his apartment with a message. SHIELD had been comprimised, ears were everywhere. Steve, once again, had no chance to ask his questions. Fury had been shot by a man outside that Steve pursued soon after. He wore a mask, he had a metal arm and he was stronger than Steve, a super soldier. Fury had been pronounced dead at the hospital not an hour later, and Steve knew to take his last words to him seriously. Trust no one.

Now he sat in Pierce's office as the Secretary spoke of Fury with appreciation, expressing his sadness at the fact he was now gone. Although Steve didn't take his words as an expression of sadness, but rather an attempt to get information from Steve about what Fury had told him.

''Captain you were the last person to see Nick alive and I don't think that was an accident, and I don't think you do either,'' Pierce told him as they stood in his office.

''So I'm going to ask again. Why was he in your apartment?''

Steve stared back at the man, knowing he couldn't trust him. If SHIELD was compomised, it only made sense that the man in charge would know exactly why.

''He told me not to trust anyone,'' Steve told him.

''I wonder if that included him,''

''I'm sorry, those were his last words,'' Steve finished, refusing to give him anymore information.

''Captain,'' Pierce stopped Steve as he walked away. ''Someone murdered my friend and I'm going to find out why and if anyone gets in my way they're going to regret it. Anyone,''

Steve nodded his head in understanding as he walked out of the room. Pierce's words repeated over and over in his head. It was his warning, but it was in no way a friendly one. It wasn't until Steve reached the elevator and was joined by a group of men that he knew were apart of SHIELD's strike and attack team that he realized Steve had already gotten in the way of Pierce. SHIELD was against him now too.

* * *

It had been a few days since she left Washington, and yet Jess was already walking back into the city with cautious movements. She knew that if SHIELD wanted her so bad they would have found her by now, but she also knew that they had a lot of other, more important, issues to take care of.

For one, they'd labeled Captain America a threat and were now hunting him down, as well as Natasha Romanoff. Jess had only been in contact with one person since she left and had been hiding out in a run down motel. Zac had called her the night before her return, letting her know that Steve Rogers was now an enemy to SHIELD. For what reason, he didn't know. He wasn't on SHIELD's good side after they discovered he was the one to invite Jess to the headquarters, but he did have enough clearance to be notified of big things that happened.

Two days was long enough for Jess to cower away and hide. She wasn't going to let SHIELD do to her what they'd managed to do to her father all those years ago. Just like Jess, her father was looking for answers that haunted him his whole life, but SHIELD didn't let him get too close and made him regret his actions when he did. They couldn't do that to her, not when she'd come this far. This whole thing was about finding the truth, but also revenge.

Jess was wearing a black hooded jacket and a baseball cap that managed to provide enough shade over her face that it wasn't directly noticeable. She wasn't going to run away scared from SHIELD, but that didn't mean she wanted to be caught. She didn't know exactly why she was back in the city, there was nothing she could do to stop what was going on, but since she was already an enemy of SHIELD, she figured her assistance wouldn't be so bad. She had information and a reason to fight against SHIELD just as much as anyone else.

Walking the streets for a few hours now, Jess reached the street before her building and looked around, wondering if it was safe enough to go near. No doubt SHIELD would have been there for her and for Steve, but they must have been preoccupied now. She had taken her valuables and important possessions with her when she left, which were now locked in a safe at the motel, but something was still drawing her back to her apartment. It was the only place that felt like home to her since she left Brooklyn. She had memories there, good ones, and that was where she had Steve. Someone who was a best friend to her, like an older brother, and someone she'd hurt when she left.

Before Jess got any closer to her building, a screeching noise on the road made her jump back away from the sidewalk, her body immediately shuddering with fear. SHIELD had found her. The other people on the street didn't have enough time to react before someone jumped out of the car and pulled her into it with ease, ignoring her screams and kicking legs.

''Get off me!'' she yelled, trying to grab the person's hands and rip them off her.

But she was already in the car, and it wasn't SHIELD that had kidnapped her.

''I was hoping to do without drawing too much attention,'' Natasha sighed, annoyed as she slammed the door of the car after it had already began speeding back off.

Jess took a moment to look around, noticing a man sitting beside her with a SHIELD badge on, an unknown man driving the car and Steve Rogers sitting in the passenger seat. She shifted to sit comfortably, looking at the man's badge again. _Jasper Sitwell. _The name sounded familiar to her, but right now she didn't care who he was, she just wanted to know what was going on._  
_

''You trying to get caught?''

Jess looked up at the man driving the car who was eyeing her in the rear vision mirror.

''If you took ten more steps in that direction SHIELD would have definitely grabbed you,''

Who was this man? Why was he driving them all? There was far too many questions going through her head.

''Sam,'' he answered her, figuring she would be wondering.

''They've had a team watching your apartment building all day,'' Natasha filled her in. ''I'm surprised they didn't find you already,''

''I was careful,'' Jess defended.

She turned to look back to the front of the car, noticing that Steve had his head turned as if he didn't even want to look at her. Jess didn't blame him for feeling betrayed, she had lied to him for as long she they'd known each other. A change to explain everything to him would be good, but it wasn't the time or place, and it was clear he didn't want to speak to her.

The car was silent as they sped away from the area, and Jess couldn't help feeling a little threatened to be sitting next to a SHIELD agent who seemed more like a hostage than a passenger.

''Can someone tell me what's going on?'' she asked, her voice sounding like it was being projected over a loudspeaker amid the silence.

Steve scoffed and shook his head, an amused yet angry look on his face as if he wondered how she thought she'd be entitled to truth after hiding her own. She stared at him for a moment, wondering if he was going to say something to her even if it was something hurtful, but he remained quiet.

''Well, SHIELD wants us dead,'' Natasha told her again. ''They made that pretty clear when they sent a missile toward me and Steve when we found out what they were hiding,''

''As they do,'' Jess shook her head at the idea of history repeating itself in her life. ''Well, I guess when you're Alexander Pierce it's actually possible to turn an organization against two of it's best,''

Natasha watched Jess as she folded her arms in anger, a small smirk on her lips at how much she had managed to find out on her own.

''Steve mentioned you weren't who you appeared to be,''

Jess glanced up at Steve who had his head turned slightly, waiting for her response, but he still didn't say a word.

''I guess he's right then,'' Jess shrugged. ''But everyone has their reasons,''

There was silence among them once again as they each occupied themselves with staring out the window. Jess still didn't know where they were going, but she didn't bother asking any more questions. The whole situation was quite awkward. The tension was high and no one knew what to say, but Steve still refused to look back at Jess.

He had lied to her for so long about who she was. He still didn't know why, or what it meant that her names was Jessica Barnes. It obviously meant something if she felt the need to hide it from him, but she knew how sensitive the topic of his best friend was. If she was lying about her real name too, he didn't know what he'd do.

After being chased out of the Triskelion by a SHIELD attack team, Steve had found out that what Jess was running from was SHIELD. One of the men that Steve had knocked to the ground had warned him that he and his neighbor friend would be found by SHIELD soon enough, and Steve was smart enough to put the pieces together. He just didn't know why. He hadn't told Natasha everything either, he didn't want to until he himself knew what was going on. Natasha knew that Jess wasn't just a young woman working at a diner, but Steve hadn't informed her of her identity yet.

''You could have told me about SHIELD,'' Steve finally spoke.

Everyone tensed up at his sudden words.

''No I couldn't,'' she shook her head. ''I didn't know what I was dealing with and I couldn't involve you, I didn't want to,''

''You didn't want to involve me? So it was just a coincidence that you and I became friends, was it? Or an attempt to get closer to SHIELD,''

Jess was quiet for a moment, holding back all of her anger.

''I would never use you,'' she spoke quietly. ''I kept our friendship separate from what I was doing with SHIELD,''

Steve chuckled to himself.

''Right,'' he nodded. ''I have a little trouble believing that considering how easy it is for you to lie,''

Jess didn't say anything else. He was angry, she didn't want to justify herself when he was like this. She didn't want to do any of this in front of the others, this was between her and Steve. The car went back to silence as Steve turned away again, unable to stop feeling so annoyed.

Natasha looked over to Sitwell who was staring at the road, a look of worry or anticipation on his face.

''Insight's launching in 16 hours, we're cutting it a little close,'' she poked her her into the front and spoke to Steve and Sam.

''I know,'' Steve turned. ''We'll use Sitwell to bypass DNA scans and access the hellicarriers directly,''

''What?'' Sitwell's eyes widened, speaking for the first time. ''Are you crazy? That is a terrible, terrible ide-''

Sitwell was cut off before he finished his sentence by a metal arm reaching through the now broken window and grabbing him. Jess pushed herself back away from his, watching on in horror as the man was dragged from the car and thrown into oncoming traffic. The sound of his body slamming against a car made her stomach churn, but she didn't have time to focus on that.

Someone was on the roof, they could hear the heavy footsteps, and they all gasped as the car was launched forward by a truck behind them. Jess turned to see it was full of agents.

''Hydra!'' Natasha told her.

''Hydra?'' Jess asked, shocked.

''Pierce is leading them from within SHIELD,''

There was no time for further explanation as bullets began to rain down from the roof of the car into the back seats. Natasha climbed through to the front, jumping our of the bullet's way as she grabbed Jess's hand and began to pull her through too. One of the bullets skimmed across Jess's wrist as she made it to the front before the bullets hit where she was sitting. They were both on Steve's lap and Sam concentrated on driving, trying to get away from the agents.

With no warning, the car's breaks slammed on and threw the man from the roof onto the road in front. He looked absolutely terrifying. His arm was metal, his hair blew in front of his face, dressed in black and covered with weapons.

The Winter Soldier.

Sam sped off away from the man, but the car behind them soon caught up, picking up the soldier on the way. Slamming into the back of the car repeatedly, Steve knew they had to get out of the car before it was driven off the bridge they were travelling on. Steve pulled Natasha and Jess close, pulling his shield to his side as he looked over to Sam, gesturing to get ready.

''Hang on!'' he shouted.

Jess was sure she was having a nightmare as the door of the car detached and Steve pushed them all out, grinding along the ground as Sam jumped behind her. They all landed in a heap on the road, but they didn't escape completely. Agents began to rush out of the car that had been chasing them and the Winter Soldier was visible from the other side of he road.

It was only just beginning.


	9. A Face From the Past

There was no time to think about what to do, they just had to act as fast as they could. Sam had rolled further down the road than they did when he made contact with the concrete, so Steve, Natasha and Jess jumped up from the ground quick enough to see the Winter Soldier aiming a grenade launcher at them.

Steve reached out and shoved Natasha and Jess away from the grenade coming at them, taking all of it's force as he blocked himself with the shield. Steve was pushed off the bridge by it's force, propelling into an oncoming bus. Jess's eyes widened in horror as she watched on, but Natasha hurried her along. They ran across the side of the now stopped cars, using them to hide from the bullets the agents shot at them.

Jess knew it wouldn't work with two people running together, they were too easy to attack and Natasha was best off on her own anyway. Jess lifted her pants and pulled a gun from the strap around her ankle, nodding to Natasha to go on.

''I'll be fine, go!'' Jess told her.

Natasha ran off, diverting the Winter Soldier's attention to her as she ran to the other side of the road. He shot another grenade toward her, but Natasha was ahead of him already. Jess watched as Natasha skillfully dodged the grenade, jumping off the bridge confidently, and that was the last Jess seen of her.

The agents were closing in on her, walking down the road as the Winter Soldier went after Natasha. Jess and Sam were still hiding behind the cars and the agents had no plans to let them go. When their footsteps got closer, Jess took a deep breath and stood up, aiming her gun toward them and shooting three bullets into the men. She hit one of them in the shoulder and shot another man to the ground, causing the others to look over to her but Sam stopped them with his own bullets. The agents fell to the ground as Sam hurried over to Jess, his eyes scanning over their surroundings.

''You alright?'' he asked as he knelt down beside her.

''Yeah,'' she nodded. ''They're going after Steve and Natasha,''

Sam looked over to the bodies of the agents, signalling for Jess to follow behind him.

''Grab whatever you can,'' he told her, taking the guns that were laying around the men.

Jess picked up two machine guns and attached another hand gun to her ankle, running behind Sam as he hurried over to the side of the bridge where Steve was thrown and Natasha had jumped. They were two of the most skilled agents at SHIELD, they were more than capable of defending themselves, but both Sam and Jess knew that these Hydra agents were different.

''How good's your aim?'' Sam asked when they saw the agents below them.

Jess answered by pointing the gun toward one of the agents walking toward the bus Steve had landed in, watching as he dropped his gun and fell to the ground in agony. Although the situation was more serious than anything she'd dealt with before, she couldn't help the smirk that crept onto her lips as Sam's eyes widened.

''Okay then,'' he nodded, satisfied.

Together, they began stopping every agent that was trying to get to Steve who was now out of the smashed and destroyed bus, using his shield to repel the bullets Hydra fired at him. The only noise Jess could hear was the constant pull her of trigger and the screams from people below.

Steve ran toward the agents with his shield, their bullets repelling back into those who shot them until he got close enough to knock them out forcefully. But they just kept on coming. When Steve turned around, he was met with an agent holding a gun to him, but he was shot down before he could pull the trigger. He looked up at the bridge to see Jess staring back down at him, a machine gun in her hand and a determined look on her face.

''We got this, go!'' Sam called out to him, lifting his gun again and attacking the other agents that were still standing.

Jess followed Sam's action as she watched Steve run away from the area. It was amazing how unharmed he was after being thrown through a bus window at such speed and height, but Jess had to keep reminding herself that he wasn't just Steve Rogers. Right now, he was Captain America.

* * *

They'd been dodging bullets and firing them for about five minutes, but the last Hydra agents they could see were finally taken care of. Jess threw the now empty machine gun to the ground, picking up the second one and following Sam down the road. He stopped at a certain point, looking down below at the abandoned truck.

''You good with heights?'' he looked over to Jess.

''Why?''

''If you wanna get off this bridge you'll have to jump,''

Jess looked down and noticed the big drop to the road below them, but the roof of the truck would make it easier. She'd jumped across buildings before and off roofs, this shouldn't have been a problem.

''Okay,'' she nodded. ''What about you?''

''I've got other plans, but I gotta suit up for that,'' he told her as she stared at him, confused. ''Just get down there and stay out of sight,''

''I have to go help Steve,'' she shook her head. ''That soldier went after Natasha and Steve's got no weapons,''

''These guys are Hydra, okay, you don't wanna mess with them,''

Jess gripped the gun tight as she jumped up onto the ledge of the bridge, looking down at the truck roof.

''They messed with me first,''

The drop from the bridge to the roof of the vehicle wasn't so bad, but it was noisy. If there was any agents around, they'd have known exactly where she was, but luckily her and Sam had already taken care of that.

When her feet made contact with the road, she began running, pulling her hood over her head. The gun was heavy in her arms, but she knew she'd need it soon enough. The screaming of bystanders lead her to where it was all unfolding. She could see Steve clearly dodging a knife that was being wielded by the Winter Soldier, a look of fear in his eyes.

There was no way she could shoot the soldier, not when he was so close to Steve. She didn't even know if a bullet would be enough to stop him, he looked like he was indestructible. Making her way over, she noticed Natasha lying by the side of a car, her hand on her shoulder and covered in blood.

''You okay?'' Jess asked as she knelt down beside her.

''I'll be fine,'' Natasha nodded, wincing in pain as she sat up. ''Where's Sam?''

''He said he had to suit up, I don't know what he was talking about,''

Natasha looked over the car and saw Steve still fighting with the soldier. She had her own experience with the man, remembering her first run-in with him where he shot through her to kill another man. Natasha knew he was extremely dangerous, and even though Steve was strong and a super-soldier, she knew the Winter Soldier wouldn't back down.

She stood up, taking a deep breath and ignoring her wounded shoulder, and picked up the grenade launcher on the ground nearby, waiting for the right time.

Jess stood near her, looking over to the two men fighting and witnessed Steve ripping the mask off the Winter Soldier's face, throwing him down. She lifted her gun, knowing that shooting the soldier would be much easier now that Steve was out of the way. However, when the soldier turned around, she saw a face that looked to familiar to harm. Even with his shoulder length brown hair drooping over the side of his face, it was obvious who he was. Jess had only two photos of the man, ones that her father had shown and gave to her, but she was sure of who she was seeing.

As if to confirm her thoughts, Steve's face mirrored her own when he stared at the man in shock.

''Bucky?'' Steve spoke, wondering if he was imagining things.

''Who the hell is Bucky?'' he turned, reaching for his gun.

Then, Jess realized what Sam meant by 'suiting up'. He flew down through the air with wings attached, a thick pair of goggles covering his eyes as he kicked Bucky to the ground before he could shoot. As he rolled to the ground and picked himself up, they all watched on, motionless as if it weren't happening.

Bucky stared at Steve, his eyes wide with so many questions as he realized the man was familiar. But that wasn't what he was here for. He had a mission, and he lifted his gun again to aim at Steve. Natasha pulled her trigger first though, sending a grenade in his direction. Bucky jumped out of the way as the grenade exploded into the car nearby, and then he was gone.

Steve stood there staring in the direction Bucky went, wondering how it was all possible. Bucky died long ago, he couldn't have survived that fall, he couldn't be here right now. He couldn't be Hydra.

Sirens echoed down the streets as SHIELD made their way to the scene. Another group of people who wanted them captured. There was no where to run, not when agents arrived on motorbikes and cars from every direction.

Jess threw her gun to the ground when they came up to her and Natasha, surrendering. She didn't understand what just happened, she couldn't believe it. They all had their hands cuffed behind their back in a matter of seconds, except Steve. He was pushed to his knees with a gun held to his head, but he didn't look scared at all. He had just seen his best friend that he thought was dead try and kill him. Bucky didn't know who he was, he wasn't the same man.

They were all lead to a van and the doors were locked behind them. Two agents sat in with them and even though they wore black helmets, they looked terrifying. Everyone was silent. Jess was sitting next to Steve who was still shock, and Sam sat opposite next to Natasha who looked weak from the amount of blood she was losing from her shoulder. Sam was told who the soldier was, but he didn't believe it.

It felt like an eternity had passed before Steve finally said anything.

''It was him,'' he spoke, his eyes on the floor. ''He looked right at me, and he didn't even know me,''

''How's that possible? It was like seventy years ago,'' Sam argued.

''Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43 and Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall,'' he explained. ''They must have found him...''

''None of that's your fault Steve,'' Natasha told him.

Steve sighed.

''Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky,''

Jess looked up at him, seeing how much that man meant to Steve. They were best friends, he knew him better than anyone, or he did.

''We gotta get a doctor,'' Sam looked at Natasha's shoulder, turning to the agents. ''If we don't put pressure on that wound she's gonna bleed out right here-''

He was silenced when one of the agents held up and electrified baton and he sat back in silence. However the agent surprised them by shoving the weapon into their partner and knocking them out. They all watched on in suspense as the agent took off the helmet, revealing Maria Hill.

''That thing was squeezing my brain,'' she groaned, looking around at Sam and Jess. ''Who are these guys?''

* * *

Using one of SHIELD's more advanced creations, they had managed to escape the van they were travelling to their deaths in. Maria had chosen the right moment to get out as she had another car waiting for them to travel to an unknown location. Underground and safe, she assured them.

They all climbed out of the van, Steve stopping to help Natasha as she walked in pain. Sam and Jess followed behind as they walked, Maria taking them in after Steve assured her they were on the same team. Jess had helped them fight against Hydra, and although Steve was still annoyed with her, his answers could wait until later.

''She's lost at least a pint of blood,'' Maria told the man coming their way when they walked inside the tunnel.

''Let me take her,'' he nodded.

''She'll wanna see him first,''

They all looked at one another, confused, before they were lead to a room where Nick Fury laid in a hospital bed. Alive.

Fury looked over to them with a smirk on his lips.

''About damn time,''

* * *

Once Fury explained the situation of Hydra taking over SHIELD and how he survived the attack, Natasha had to be treated for her wound. Steve needed some space, and so did Jess. They both had just seen someone they thought was dead, they both had so many questions.

As Steve walked down the tunnel, headed for some fresh air outside, he heard someone behind him, turning to see Jess. She paused when he looked at her, figuring he was still angry.

''Don't worry I'm not following you,'' she told him. ''Just need some space,''

Steve nodded and kept walking, the only sound their footsteps as they made it outside. Jess turned to walk in a different direction, but Steve stopped her.

''Wait,'' he shook his head. ''We should talk,''

''Right now?'' she asked. ''After what just happened?''

''You owe me that,''


	10. The Answers You Deserve

Steve and Jess sat on a shady patch of grass just past the tunnel doors, out of sight. He had questions and she had answers, and she knew that she owed him a good explanation after everything she'd done. Jess was going to be honest with him about it all, she had no reason to hide anything from him anymore. She just hoped he would forgive her for lying to him, that he could understand why she felt she had to keep so many things from him.

''Where do you want me to start?'' she asked, figuring he had some of his own questions he wanted answered first.

Taking a long breath, Steve considered, choosing to ask the most obvious question to him.

''Your last name is Barnes,'' he began. ''I know it's not a coincidence and since you hid it from me it obviously means something, but what?''

''Well, my father was Bucky's son,'' she told him simply. ''Which makes Bucky my grandfather,''

Steve stared at her in silence for a moment, trying to let the information sink in. It wasn't as if he hadn't considered the fact that Jess was somehow related to Bucky, but he didn't consider such a close relation. Bucky had a a brother and Steve had assumed Jess had inherited the surname through his children, but apparently not.

''Bucky had a son?''

Jess nodded.

''He didn't know about him though, he didn't get the chance. Bucky and my grandmother met one night in 1943 after he was rescued from Hydra and the rest is, well, pretty obvious. She never got to see him again to tell him and by the time my dad was born, news had got back home that Bucky had died. She named my father after him,''

Steve remembered back to the night she was referring to.

''That was after I found him, after Zola had experimented on him,''

''Right, which is where is gets kind of complicated. Whatever they did to Bucky altered his DNA and was passed on to my father. It was nothing drastic, but his aging wasn't normal. He didn't get old physically at the same rate as others his age. He had increased strength and a higher tolerance for pain. None of the effects on my dad were as extreme as they were on Bucky, but they were there.

My grandmother tried to explain to my dad that Bucky had been involved in experimentation, but there was limited information about it back then and they couldn't get answers to explain what was happening. No one would tell my family what happened to Bucky apart from 'he fell to his death' and that's it. But when my dad got older, he met a man that told him about SHIELD, an organization founded after the war that knew what happened to him and had the answers he needed. Of course they didn't tell my dad anything that he hadn't already been told, but he knew they were hiding something from him, and so he never told them about his symptoms,''

Jess sighed, thinking about the amount of times her dad had told her this story and how upset it made her thinking about it. She remembered how angry he became when talking about SHIELD and how sad he became when talking about Bucky and never having met him.

''My dad spent his whole life searching for answers about Bucky. He went everywhere trying to find someone that knew anything about him, but he never went back to SHIELD. When I was old enough to understand, he told me everything and I watched as he never gave up on finding the truth. And then when I was sixteen, he thought he finally found something but he wouldn't tell me or my mom what it was. He set up a meeting with someone who had heard of his efforts to find out what happened to Bucky, someone with SHIELD, and then he never made it back home.''

Steve's eyes were fixed on her, listening intently.

''They killed him?''

''Made it look like an accident. SHIELD's good at covering things up,''

''So that's why you were trying to get information from them,''

''I was trying to finish what my dad started. Not only did I want to know what happened to my grandfather, but I wanted to know why they had to kill my father. What were they hiding that they couldn't let him live with the knowledge of?'' she explained. ''I've grown up with the idea of never giving up and that the truth shouldn't be hidden, so I want you to know that it wasn't easy for me to grow so close to you and lie to you at the same time. But Steve, I've also grown up knowing that SHIELD ruined and took my father's life. I couldn't tell you what was going on because you were with SHIELD, and as much as I trusted you, I couldn't bring you into it or risk you knowing,''

Steve understood everything now. She wasn't betraying him in the way he thought she was. Jess had grown up with SHIELD in a bad light, her whole life was circled around finding answers to something that was so deeply hidden by them. She was doing it all for her family and she couldn't risk anything getting in the way.

''It's okay,'' he nodded. ''I know why you had to do it and I get why you couldn't tell me,''

''I wanted to. Bucky was your best friend, you had a right to know what happened to him as much as I did, but after what happened to my father, I promised myself I wouldn't involve anyone else,''

''But you told me your name before you left that day,''

''I didn't think I'd see you again, and since I was sure SHIELD was coming to kill me just as they did with my father, I wanted you to know that much at least. Your friendship is important to me, you're like...like a brother to me, and I hate myself for lying to you,''

Steve lifted his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder.

''Hey, it's okay. This whole thing is a lot more complicated than I ever assumed. I didn't know you'd been through so much and were involved in so much. I would have done the same thing if I was in your position. I haven't always felt comfortable with the way SHIELD handles things and I've definitely never liked the way they hide so many things, but I had no idea what SHIELD was capable of. I've got no right to be angry at you for having the same morals as I do. Your dad would have been proud,''

Jess smiled and leaned onto his shoulder, hugging him. She was glad she wasn't going to lose Steve, he was the only person she had left in her life.

''I was telling the truth when I said I never used you in all of this. I wasn't expecting to come to Washington and became friends with my grandfathers best friend, but I can see why he liked you. You're a great friend, and I guess I liked the idea of knowing someone that Bucky had such a high opinion of. It felt like I had a piece of my family with me when I was around you,''

Steve smiled. It all made sense to him now why she always reminded him of someone. Why their bond was so strong and why she felt like a sister to him. But his mind soon went back to the events of today and seeing Bucky with a gun pointed at him, no recognition in his eyes.

''SHIELD covered it all up. His death, Hydra finding him, they knew all along,''

''There was a lot of things I was expecting to find, but Bucky being alive wasn't one of them,'' she admitted. ''I'd only ever seen pictures of him, the ones my grandmother kept from the newspaper clippings when his death was reported, I never expected to actually see him,''

''I never thought I'd see him again,'' Steve told her.

Jess turned to look up at him with a sympathetic frown, and he was sure it was because of his new knowledge of who she was that her features stood out to him. Her brown hair, her blue-green eyes, even her jawline.

''You look like him,'' he told her.

''No I don't,'' she chuckled lightly. ''You should have seen my dad. A photo of him beside Bucky, it was like Spot The Difference,''

Steve thought for a moment.

''Do you have any symptoms? From the experimentation?'' he asked, realizing he was probably prying. ''I mean, if it passed on to your dad,''

''It's too early too tell if my aging is different, but my dad tried his best to have tests done when I was younger. He was afraid of having children because of that reason, but my mom wanted to have a baby before she got too old, so they had me. He assumed it would be different since I'm a girl and the genetics might take over and I'd be like my mom, but I don't know. I didn't trust anyone enough to do tests and I didn't know what to look for because I didn't have my dad anymore. I do have a tolerance for a lot of things and sometimes I feel the occasional rush of adrenaline and strength, but I try to convince myself I'm being paranoid,''

Steve gave her a comforting smile before turning to look down at the grass, his mind trying to grasp everything. So much had happened, everything he was fighting for had changed. There were so many lies he'd been fed since waking up from the war, he thought he was fighting for the good but now he didn't know what that was anymore.

All this time he thought his best friend was dead. The idea of Bucky being found by Hydra after the fall made him sick as he thought about what they'd done to him. He had a metal arm, he had dark eyes, he had super strength and no mercy. He was terrifying. He wasn't the Bucky he remembered. But he wasn't going to give up on him.

''I can't believe Bucky had a son,'' Steve spoke again. ''I could have seen him being a good father too, he was always looking out for me. I'm sorry your family didn't get to meet him,''

''Me too,'' she agreed. ''But he's still alive, there's a chance we could get him back,''

''I don't know what Hydra's done to him, the extent of it...he doesn't even know who he is anymore,'' Steve took a deep breath, the idea of his friend going through such torture upsetting him to even think about. ''But he was always there for me, I can't give up on him, I won't. I'm going to stop Hydra and SHIELD and this Project Insight they're launching and I'm going to get Bucky out,''

Jess admired his determination. Although she'd never met Bucky, he was still her family. She'd heard all about him her whole life, her father wanted nothing more than to know him, she wasn't going to give up now, especially since Steve didn't intend to either. There were no more lies between them.

* * *

''I don't understand, I did a check on you when Steve first mentioned he was spending time with you,'' Natasha wondered.

Jess had explained things to them all, but not in as much depth as she shared with Steve. Revealing to them that Bucky was her grandfather went down just as she expected it to, with much confusion.

After explaining Project Insight to her, Steve had assured Jess that these people they were with now were the only ones they could trust during this time. The only person Jess still didn't trust was Fury. That man had been Director of SHIELD for so long, he could have known about Bucky, and he could have known about her father. However Alexander Pierce was obviously at the helm of this whole thing. He was leading Hydra and everything that happened to her family was because of him, but she still couldn't trust Fury.

''I've wiped my background quite a few times,'' she told Natasha, her arms folded. ''When you try and get information someone doesn't want you to have, you end up breaking a few laws and people start to tail you, so I made sure they didn't,''

Sam chuckled to himself.

''Some pretty professional work for a kid-''

''I'm 21, I don't know why people still think of me as a kid,'' Jess shook her head. ''I haven't been a kid in a long time,''

Steve watched her protectively, knowing it wasn't easy for her to have them know such personal things about her. But she told them the very basics, and even that felt like too much.

''I'll be fighting to stop Hydra,'' she told them all, ending her brief speech.

Fury looked to Maria Hill who sat beside him, wondering what she thought. They were the highest ranking SHIELD members in this room, but they couldn't think in those mindsets anymore. Ranks and clearance didn't matter anymore, they just needed people on their side and their reasons didn't matter as long as they all shared the same outcome.

Maria nodded.

''We have to stop the launch,'' Natasha spoke, looking over to Fury as he opened a briefcase.

Inside were three digital chips.

''What's that?'' Sam asked.

''Once the hellicarriers reach three thousand feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites becoming fully weaponized,'' Maria told them.

''We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own,'' Fury cut in before letting Maria continue.

''One or two won't cut it, we need to link all three carriers for this to work. If even one of those ships is operational, a whole lot of people are gonna die,''

Jess listened in with worry, the realization of Insight's severity sinking in.

''We have to assume everyone on board those carriers is Hydra,'' Fury explained. ''If we get past them and insert these server blades then maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left of-''

''We're not salvaging anything,'' Steve's voice was loud as he cut the man off. ''We're not just taking down the carriers, we're taking down SHIELD,''

''SHIELD had nothing to do with this!'' Fury argued.

''You gave me this mission, this is how it ends. SHIELD's been compromised, you said so yourself, Hydra grew right under your nose and nobody even noticed,'' he pointed out.

There was a brief silence.

''Look, I didn't know about Barnes,'' Fury admitted.

''Even you did, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalized that too?'' Steve asked angrily. ''SHIELD, Hydra, it all goes,''

''He's right,'' Maria spoke softly beside him, a sad look on her face.

They'd both been with SHIELD for so long, done so much for them, it was hard to let go. Even Natasha agreed. After everything she'd done to become a better person at SHIELD, to fix what she'd done in her past, it turned out she was fighting for the bad guys once again. But SHIELD was her life, and she knew it had to go.

''Well, look's like your giving the orders now Cap,''


	11. Fighting Back

Jess picked up her fork and poked the food in front of her as if she wasn't sure what it was. In an underground hideout, she didn't expect a fancy meal, but these were possibly the worst microwave dinners she'd ever seen. Since she hadn't eaten all day and they were leaving very soon to begin Steve's plan, it was advised she at least have a meal. If this qualified as that.

''I don't know if I'll be much help to you if I eat this,'' Jess looked over to Steve and then back at her plastic plate. ''It might kill me,''

Steve couldn't help chuckle at her.

''You don't have to go into this you know,''

''I'm not sitting this out,''

''It's just that it's gonna be really dangerous,''

''I've been in really dangerous, I can handle it,''

As she gave up trying to eat and picked up her bottle of water, she noticed Steve's gaze and raised her eyebrow.

''I'm just not used to this yet,'' he shook his head, noticing her confusion. ''A week ago you were just my friend, my neighbor who worked at the diner and always played her music too loud and now you're the granddaughter of my best friend who knows more about SHIELD than I do,''

Jess sighed, understanding his struggle to fully accept all of the new information.

''I'm still the same person,'' she reminded him with a smile. ''Still gonna make fun of you forever over _Pirates of The Sea,_''

''I know,'' Steve laughed. ''It's just a lot to take in,''

Jess thought for a moment.

''What did you think I lied to you for? I mean, when I left, before you knew SHIELD had me as a target, what'd you think I did?''

There were so many answers he could give her, because for the brief time she was gone, he had considered everything. A spy working against SHIELD, getting close to the agents who worked there and then stealing from the inside. Things had changed since the '40's that he grew up in. A woman was openly capably of anything, he didn't know where to begin.

''I honestly don't know,'' he shrugged. ''I mean, I had ideas. Working for a terrorist organization was up there, but I couldn't believe any of the scenarios I came up with to explain why SHIELD was coming for you or why you'd bothered to befriend me if you just up and left every time you were finished with a job or something. I think that's why I was so angry at you, because I didn't know why you did it or why they were after you. I care about you a lot, you're like a little sister, and the fact I was being kept in the dark about who you were or what you were mixed up frustrated me more than anything,''

Jess couldn't help smile when he said he considered her a little sister. They had a friendship that was very much like a sibling bond, and since she didn't have any brothers or sisters, she was comforted to know that he cared for her to same.

''I thought they'd tell you something horrible about me, to pin you against me. That's why I told you not to believe them because I didn't know what they'd say, but I knew it wouldn't be the truth, only that could come from me,'' she explained. ''I've never told anyone about my life before. You know everything now, I'm not hiding a thing, I promise,''

Steve smiled and reached over to put his hand on hers.

''I trust you,''

* * *

Sam stood in the main room of their underground tunnel hideout or whatever it was being called, looking around at all of the weapons that Maria Hill had managed to get her hands on before she went into hiding with Fury. There were boxes full of guns and deadly tech, all kinds of SHIELD inventions he hadn't heard of, but if it got the job done he didn't care what they were called.

He looked over to Jess who stood in the corner going through one of the boxes and laying out her chosen weapons on the table beside her. Sam didn't know her well at all, but Steve had faith and trust in her, and that was enough for him.

''You were a pretty good shot earlier,'' Sam spoke, trying to break the silence since it seemed too quiet. ''How'd you learn to do that?''

Jess looked over and shrugged.

''Fear, I guess. I've ran into a lot of unpleasant assholes in my travels. It's easier when they assume I wouldn't have a clue how to hold a gun,'' she put her hand on her hip. ''And when they assume I'm just a kid,''

Sam chuckled.

''Yeah, sorry about that,''

''It's fine, I get it all the time,'' she shook her head, assuring him it wasn't a big deal. ''I'll admit I'm not the tallest 21 year old around,''

''You seem older than 21. I mean, you look younger, but a regular 21 year old doesn't know how to shoot like that or deal stuff like this, and they sure as hell don't look through a box of weapons taking their pick with a smile on their face,''

They both chuckled, the tension in the room lessening. Jess had the feeling Steve was the only one who wanted her here, but Sam was a nice guy.

Wait, so you're the Sam who Steve bothers all the time on his morning runs?'' Jess asked, leaning back on the table as she pulled a belt around her waist.

She looked like a field agent dressed in her long black cargo pants which were secured below her knee by her heavy combat boots. There was a black t-shirt on her as well, underneath the shoulder holster that she was now filling with handguns and any small weapon she could fit into it.

''That's me,'' he grinned, folding his arms.

Sam didn't really have to prepare as much as Jess or the others did. Sure he had weapons hidden on his clothes, but his main advantage against Hydra and SHIELD was the Falcon suit he wore.

''I've seen you before,'' she nodded. ''From far away though, I can never be bother to run that fast that early in the morning. Steve made fun of me too many times so I ended up boycotting the whole thing. I can't compete with a super soldier,'' she laughed.

''Hey, you seem to be doing fine, having come this far on your own since you were a kid, it's impressive,''

''Well, thanks. The bird suit is pretty impressive to,'' she pointed out. ''I've never seen anything like it, or heard of it,''

''There's only one left, and I called it before you get any ideas,'' he joked. ''Only one Falcon,''

* * *

Jess was sitting inside on her own, looking over a photo she always kept in her pocket when she was in the middle of running from one place to another. It was of her parents, smiling together as they looked into each others eyes adoringly. It always made her happy to see the picture. No matter what was going on in their lives, she always knew her parents loved one another and their daughter more than life.

If today was going to be as dangerous as she thought and as bad as she'd been warned, she wanted to see the photo one last time, she wanted a happy memory to be fresh in her mind. She was doing this for her family, she was going to try and save the only other person in it, even if she didn't know the man.

''That's your parents?''

Jess looked up to see Steve walking up close behind her, his eyes on the photo in her hands. He had been outside speaking with Sam, presumably about what they were going to do, but she gave them their privacy as she'd been given hers.

''Yeah, it was in my pocket, I forgot about it,'' she lifted the photo and passed it to Steve. ''Still think I'm the one who looks like Bucky?''

Studying the photo, a smile crept onto Steve's face as he looked at the man. He was almost an exact copy of his father, it was surreal. Steve had a lot of time to feel sorry for everything he had missed in his past, but he'd also felt sorry for the life Bucky didn't get to have either. He missed out on being a father, watching his son grow up, meeting his granddaughter and having a wonderfully normal life in Brooklyn.

''He looks just like him,'' Steve shook his head in disbelief. ''I bet he was like Bucky,''

''My grandmother used to tell him that. He had Bucky's playfulness apparently, but then again my grandmother only knew him for a night and the rest of us didn't know him at all,''

''Bucky had a brother though,'' Steve remembered.

''He didn't have kids. He died in a building accident years after Bucky. My dad was the only Barnes left and then when he and my mom died, it just left me,''

''You're the only one left,'' Steve nodded.

He remembered the day Jess's mother had died and Steve found her during a breakdown, repeating the fact that she was the only one left now. It all made sense to him.

''But I'm not, not really anyway. Bucky is still my family whether we've met each other or not, he's still my...grandfather,'' she made a face, realizing how odd it was to call the deadly soldier such a name. ''I can't give up on my family,''

''You don't have to. You've got me too, you know. You'll always have me,''

Jess smiled up at him before she heard noises from the other room. They were about to leave, there was no time to reconsider. She looked down and made sure she was ready, checking over her clothing and weapons before noticing Steve still looked the same.

''Haven't you gotta suit up or something?''

* * *

They'd been walking for a while now and finally made it to the clearing across from the Triskellion. They had their way of getting in, but they didn't want to get caught before they had their chance, so they'd made their journey on foot. Sam walked ahead of Jess, fitted with his Falcon suit, next to Maria who looked very professional in her SHIELD field uniform.

But it was Steve's clothing that Jess was fascinated by. They had to steal it from the display at the Smithsonian, which Steve usually wouldn't condone, but technically it did belong to him. It was the same one she'd seen in photos, the one that wore when he fought alongside Bucky in the war. In that uniform, Jess could clearly see that he wasn't just Steve Rogers, he was Captain America. _The_ Captain America.

''So we had to make a stop so you could out-dress us all?'' Jess looked back at Steve.

Sam chuckled loudly in front and Maria's lips pulled up into a smile. They all found the uniform intimidating in all honestly, they were fighting alongside a war hero now, the man SHIELD had widely praised throughout the years.

''Gotta have a uniform,'' Steve smiled.

''_This _is a uniform,'' Jess pointed to her all black ensemble. ''That is a relic,''

They continued walking, hoping they'd find their moment to get into the Triskellion soon. Security was high, but Maria knew her way around them. Steve walked up behind Jess and grabbed her arm, pulling her back as the others walked on. Jess looked up at him, confused and then worried.

''What is it?'' she asked, alert.

''I don't want you to get hurt in this,'' he began, ignoring her sigh of frustration. ''No, listen, I know you're more than capable of taking care of yourself and you know how to fight and shoot a gun, but if this gets out of hand, I want you to run-''

''Not an option,'' she shrugged. ''I'm not going to leave if it gets too hard,''

''It's not worth dying for Hydra,''

''It's worth it if it destroys them and saves Bucky,''

Steve looked away for a moment. He understood her reasoning, but he wasn't going to let her lose her life over Hydra, they'd done enough to her. This wasn't her battle to fight, this was SHIELD's mess.

''I'm just trying to look out for you, like Bucky use to for me,'' he hung his head low, the memories paining him. ''He wouldn't want you to die at the hands of Hydra,''

They started walking again when Maria turned to see how far behind they were, but Jess wasn't finished.

''I'm not going to let them kill me. I'm a fighter Steve, I have been my whole life, I'm not going to stop now. I'll fight until I can't anymore, but I won't die. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction. But that speech you just gave me, it goes for you too. Bucky wouldn't want you to die like this, for Hydra to ruin you too. We'll both do what we can and fight with all we've got and we'll be fine,'' she told him.

Steve nodded in agreement, giving her a light smile to let her know he believed it would all be okay. Truth was, he wasn't sure. He'd taken down Hydra once before, but now they were stronger than ever. They turned SHIELD on them, they were insiders now. He couldn't be sure if they would come out of this okay or if Hydra would be destroyed, but he was going to give it everything he had.

Meanwhile, across the bridge at the Triskellion, Alexander Pierce was welcoming the World Security Council members into the building, ready to launch Insight. The project that was meant to kill criminals and threats before they had the chance to do damage. The project that would take away the entire world's freedom.


	12. Into Battle

How they managed to get into the Triskellion without being shot dead was astounding to Jess as she followed behind the others, her gun in her hand. Maria Hill may have gone into hiding with Fury, but she still had pull at the headquarters and contacts with people who would gladly follow her order without question. Steve lead them down the hall of one of the floors on the top levels, seeming to know exactly where he was going and what he was planning to do.

Sam was behind him, gun in his hand, just the same as Maria. When they reached the door, Jess stood back and made sure no one followed them as they got the attention of SHIELD controllers inside.

''Excuse us,''

Jess turned once she heard Steve's voice, watching as he walked past the man and into the control room. The stares from the people inside was uncomfortable, their confusion mixed with worry. SHIELD was aware of that fact Steve Rogers was a target and a threat, that his capture was top priority, but none of them acted upon it. They just watched on as Steve made his way over to the monitors.

Sam stood back behind him, ready to cover if any of them decided to do anything. Maria stood to the side, looking over the screens and gathering information she'd missed in her time away. They knew Steve's plan and were prepared to follow him through it all, but it all came down to whether or not the first part would work.

Steve took a deep breath as he found the transmitter and held down the button, his words about to reach all of the headquarters.

''Attention all SHIELD agents, this is Steve Rogers,''

Agents all stopped their work, listening to the voice of the man they were searching for. In his office, surrounded by the World Safety Council, Alexander Pierce froze.

''You've heard a lot about me over the last few days, some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. I think it's time you knew the truth. SHIELD is not what he thought it was. It's been taken over by Hydra, Alexander Pierce is their leader. The strike and Insight group are Hydra as well, I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building, they could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want - absolute control. They shot Nick Fury, and it won't end their. If you launch those hellicarriers then Hydra will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way. Unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot, the price of freedom is high, it always has been, but it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not,''

Maria looked over to him, hoping his plea would work. She knew SHIELD and the agents, she was sure they weren't all bad, but Hydra had been inside for so long that she didn't know anymore. They all just hoped.

Steve stopped talking, standing up straight away from the transmitter. That was the only message he'd be able to get across, Hydra agents were coming for them now they knew where they were, but he was sure there would be people listening who would stand by him.

Sam walked over to him a few moments later, breaking the silence.

''Did you write that down first, or was it off the top of your head?''

The room began to clear out once Steve's speech was finished, and Maria took her seat at the control panel to monitor everything that was happening. This was their plan starting action, from now on there was no time to pause and think about who was going to help them and who was Hydra, they just had to stop those helicarriers.

''Let's go, strike team will be here soon,'' Steve began, his shield in his hand as he walked toward the door.

Sam and Jess followed out behind him hurriedly, hoping that their exits weren't blocked. Maria watched them go before her eyes began scanning over all of the information coming through.

On the higher levels, they were close to the helipads outside where the carriers were being launched, but they weren't going to get into them from here. That's where Sam was more than happy to lend a hand, or a wing.

Outside, they began running from the exit down the helipad. They had to try and stop the pilots of the helicarriers first. Jess ran behind them, her gun in her hand and a look of determination and anger on her face. She was going to be facing off Hydra, the people who destroyed her family and had all the answers she'd been searching for. There was no way she was going to let them win this.

''Hey Cap, how do we know the good guys from the bad guys?'' Sam asked as he ran.

''If they're shooting at you they're bad!'' Steve called back, making both Sam and Jess smirk in amusement.

This is where it all got interesting, and very dangerous. Even as she ran, Jess could hear the shouts of agents below at the helicarriers. It was their job to stop the launch, but Jess couldn't help feeling uneasy about the whole thing. There was so many of them.

''I'll meet you down there,'' Steve looked back at them, looking at Jess worriedly.

He had to keep telling himself that she was capable of this, she wasn't worried and he shouldn't be either. But she was worried, specifically about the fact they were running to the end of a helipad.

''Woah how am I-'' Jess let out a brief scream as Sam picked her up.

The ground disappeared beneath her feet as Sam held onto her, the wings of his suit carrying them over the steep drop to the helipad below. Steve, however, jumped down, rolled onto the hard ground, and got up to run again. It looked completely effortless. Jess clutched Sam's arm as he spun around in the air, dodging the bullets coming their way.

''Hang on!'' he told her as he pulled her closer to his chest, the wings wrapping around them both.

Sam spun in the air fast, missing the bullets and flying higher into the air. He just had to lose them long enough to get Jess to the ground even though it looked just as dangerous down below. As he flew high, he paused for a moment as they began to fall, spinning once again and aiming headfirst for the ground. Jess bit down on her lip, trying to stay calm, but she hadn't exactly been literally flying before.

When they got low enough to the ground, Sam spread the wings and softened their landing. He could stay though, he had to help from the air, he had to get to the pilots of the helicarriers and help stop them.

''You got this?'' he asked as their feet hit the ground.

''Yeah, thanks!'' Jess called back as she began running.

This wasn't going to be easy.

Shots were already coming her way as she ducked behind one of the containers, listening to what direction they were coming from. When they paused, Jess stood up fast and found the people shooting and with four pulls of her trigger, they dropped to the ground. She didn't have time to stay in one place, she had to help Steve get into the helicarrier but it was going to be tough with all of these agents standing in their way.

Running, she shot at all of the agents she could see lifting their guns toward her. She knew there was more, but she had to keep running. However when one of them threw their arm around her neck, holding her in a headlock, she pulled herself down to her knees. Choking for air, Jess groaned loudly through her teeth and she reached up to the man's head and pulled it over the top of her, watching as his body hit the concrete hard. But he wasn't done. When he got up to attack her again, he gripped his fingers tight around her throat as she reached for his head. It was becoming extremely difficult to do anything at all as he body ran out of oxygen, but she managed to get a grip on his head, his angry eyes looking deep into hers as if he was savoring the idea of watching her slowly choke to her death.

''Hail Hydra!'' he spat.

Jess used whatever strength she had left to quickly twist his neck, listening to it crack as his grip left her throat. His lifeless body fell back to the ground, and Jess fell to her knees for a moment to catch her breath. She looked over to the man, thinking about what she'd just done. He was Hydra, he was going to kill her, but it still didn't make the sickening sound of his neck breaking any easier to think about. But it had to be done.

Within seconds, Jess was up and running again. She jumped up on top of a shipping container and began running along the line of them. It provided a good angle to shoot towards agents and see any oncoming threats, but it also allowed her to be seen by all of them. As she neared the end of the line, she pulled a knife from her back pocket and threw it skillfully into one of the agent's shoulders, causing him to drop the gun. When she jumped down, she quickly heaved the knife from his body and picked up his gun, using it to knock him unconscious before running again.

Jess was glad that she wasn't responsible for carrying one of the three targeting blades. There was no way she was getting into one of the carriers at this pace, but she was happy to help clear the way and make it easier for Steve and Sam to do so. It wasn't long before Steve's voice came through to all of them that he had placed the first blade into the helicarrier that was still on the ground, but there were two more up in the air now.

''Falcon, where are you?'' Maria asked from the control room, overlooking the entire situation on screen and making sure everything went as smooth as it could.

''Had to take a detour!'' was Sam's response.

A few minutes later his voice was back.

''Two down, one to go,'' Maria reminded them.

As Jess made her way down to the end of the helipad were other agents were gathered, she realized that these people weren't Hydra. They were giving orders to one another and stressing that they were Captain Rogers' only air crew, the only help that Steve had. It was comforting that not all of SHIELD had been swallowed whole by Hydra, but the feeling of ease didn't last long.

The jet they were about to pile into was blown up in seconds, the explosion knocking the agents down. It didn't end there either as two other jets were taken down, agents killed by the explosive action.

Behind the smoke that took over the helipad and holding a large missile launcher was The Winter Soldier. Bucky Barnes, her grandfather, was walking her way with a terrifying look of concentration on his face. She hadn't seen him up close before or witnesses just how real he was. It was hard to believe the man was her grandfather. He had no idea about her or even her father, absolutely no knowledge of having a family even before his memories were wiped, and even if he did, Jess was sure that the gun he lifted into his hands would still be pointed towards her. His orders were to kill, it didn't matter who got in his way.

Jess didn't want to hurt him, but she knew that there were many things that wouldn't kill him. She could shoot his arm, his leg, somehow stop or slow him down.

When he shot toward her, she ran off to the side, ducking headfirst as she rolled behind a piece of the jet that had blown up. Pulling a gun from her holster, she took a deep breath before jumping and running again. She knew he'd be watching intently, so she tried her best to keep moving. Looking over to him, she thought carefully as she lifted her gun and shot towards him, but when she heard the ting of the bullet hitting his metal arm, she knew she'd missed his right arm.

The only option now was to run, but he was running right behind her. She quickly pulled the knife out of her pocket again and threw it in his direction, hearing his brief gasp as it lodge itself in his leg. She ran faster then, but she slowly realized there was nowhere to go. When she turned around again, she let out a scream as she was faced with Bucky right behind her, the knife in his hands.

She managed to dodge his first attempt to stab her in the chest, and she grabbed his right arm and began to twist it behind his head. He grabbed her hand on his and ripped her from behind him, throwing her to the ground in front as he lifted the knife, his angry eyes piercing through hers as he attacked again. Jess captured his hand with the two of hers, holding him off her. She let out a panicked groan through her gritted teeth as she held him off, but the knife was getting terrifyingly close to her chest. She had no idea how she was managing to push against his force, but her mind wasn't on her sudden surge of strength or the fact that this man trying to kill her was her grandfather, but rather on getting away from this situation.

Jess rolled away from the knife when she saw her chance, but Bucky had grown tired of fighting the girl. He threw the knife to the ground and grabbed her by the throat, walking over nearby to the edge of the helipad and dropping her, ignoring her screams as she fell.


	13. Destruction

**Hey I hope you're enjoying the story. Just a heads up that after the movie storyline is over, I will continue this story but in my own way. It won't tie into another other movie from there on, it'll all be original, so I'll let you know when that's going to happen.**

* * *

''Jess!'' Steve responded when he heard her screams over his earpiece as he ran.

There was no air left in her lungs for her to reply, the forceful wind taking everything out of her as she fell through the sky. Her legs flipped over her body numerous times as she tried to steady herself, hoping she could fall into the water below and somehow survive, but she was sure she wouldn't. Even if she did have a small amount of super soldier serum in her blood somewhere, it was nowhere near enough to save her life from a fall like this.

Sam flew over, immediately spotting her falling and used all that he had in his suit to fly down to her, hoping he was fast enough. The ground was getting closer and closer, the wind having blown her right off from the water and toward the hard shore. She braced herself the best she could, but before she felt any impact, her hand was jerked up into the air. Sam pulled her up into the air again, only a few feet off the ground. She winced in pain as she was sure her shoulder had just popped out of place, but she had never felt so lucky and grateful.

''I got her!'' Sam called back to Steve, glancing down to Jess and making sure she was still conscious after the frightful fall.

''Good, cause I'm gonna need a ride!''

''Let me know when!'' Sam called back before he saw the explosion on the helipad above, and then a falling man.

''I just did!'' Steve yelled.

Sam held on to Jess's hand tight and took off after Steve, chasing him almost to the ground as well and taking his hand. Jess didn't scream this time when they whooshed through the air at an alarming pace, but she was far from comfortable with flying. Sam groaned as he heaved them all back up to the other side of the helicarrier that high in the air.

They all let out a sigh of relief when their feet met with the hard surface. Jess held onto her arm and gritted her teeth as she pushed her shoulder back into place, earning a look of sympathy from both of the men who had no doubt done the same many times before.

''You okay?'' Steve asked, unable to ignore the cuts and bruises forming on her face and the holes beginning in her pants where she'd grazed along the concrete.

Jess nodded bravely, determined to keep going.

''Y'know, you two are a lot heavier than you look,''

Steve smirked as they began walking.

''I had a big breakfast,''

Before they made it any further than a few steps, Steve was tackled to the ground by none other than Bucky. He'd stolen a jet from the agent's he killed and made sure no one was going to get to this helicarrier. It was hard to understand how much Bucky would risk to fulfill Hydra's orders, but his mind was full of so many false things.

Steve rolled off the side of the helicarrier, catching onto it's side just before he fell completely off. He was dangling on the edge with one hand as he could hear voices from above.

''Steve!''

Sam and Jess both ran over to the side, Sam jumping and beginning to spread his wings, but Bucky grabbed them and ripped him away from the edge. Jess pulled out her gun and shot at him, this time not aiming safely, but trying to hit him anywhere. He was unstoppable. When he turned to her, his eyes were full of hate. Sam pulled himself up and was in the air again, shooting at Bucky before he got the chance to attack Jess as she ran out of the bullets path.

Bucky pulled out a device and aimed at Sam, the grappling hook catching on his wing and slamming him onto the concrete again. He groaned in pain as Jess watched on, and as his wing was ripped from his suit, she ran over to him. Pulling two knives out from behind her leg, Jess flipped them in her fingers a few times before tossing one toward Bucky, hitting his leg. He didn't even express any pain as he pulled it from his skin, throwing it back at her. Jess stepped back from the force as it sliced deep into her shoulder.

Sam stood up and panicked, knowing they were dangerously close to the edge and he wasn't going to be able to fly anymore. Bucky rushed over angrily as Sam put his arm out to push Jess to the side, but she wasn't going to let him just take the attack. She pushed back, standing right next to him as she pulled the knife from her shoulder and held it up as if it would threaten the man coming for them. Her attempt was almost laughable.

Bucky took no mercy as he knocked the knife out of Jess's hand and forcefully pushing her off the side, again, and kicked Sam off to follow her. Without wings, he wasn't going to be able to save them. He shouted out as he fell, looking over to Jess who was distraught once again. Then he remembered his parachute. Always prepared.

Sam pulled off the remaining wing that was making his swing around in circles through the air.

''Jess!'' he called out to her. ''Grab my hand!''

''Sam!'' she screamed, trying her best to reach out.

Sam made his body straighten, quickening his fall to grab her hand and pull her to him. The concrete below was getting closer as they were about to come into full contact with the ground just outside the Triskellion building doors, but Sam hurried and pulled the string of his parachute.

''Run!'' he told her as he saw there wasn't going to be enough time for them to float down safely.

Jess was running, her legs kicking before she hit the ground with a painful force. Sam done the same, running as they slowed down just enough to land without splattering onto the concrete. They were both full of relieved sighs and deep breathing as they tried to calm down. Jess dropped to her knees and rolled onto her back, closing her eyes as she steadied her breathing.

''My feet are never leaving the ground again,'' she shook her head, her voice coming out shaky.

''Cap! Cap, come in, are you okay?'' Sam spoke, hoping Steve hadn't fallen.

''Yeah I'm here!'' Steve's voice responded, easing both Sam and Jess's worry. ''I'm still on the helicarrier. Where are you guys?''

''Grounded, the suit's down,'' Sam told him, the disappointment obvious in his voice. ''I'm sorry Cap,''

''Don't worry I got it,'' Steve assured.

Sam pressed the clips on his suit, letting the broken straps fall off from around his body. He put his hands on his hips as he looked up at the sky, knowing that Steve was going to have to face Bucky on his own. He should have been more careful, Steve was depending on him.

''Hey, we wouldn't have got anywhere near this far without you,'' Jess told him as she stood up, her hand pressing against her shoulder where the blood was beginning to spill through her fingers.

Noticing the wound, Sam turned to the mess that used to be his suit and ripped apart some of the straps, walking over to her. Jess knew what he was doing, but she still hesitated when he reached for her shoulder. As he wrapped the tight strap around her shoulder and pulled to maintain pressure, he could see her silently wincing in pain as she waited for him to be done.

''Should stop the bleeding,''

''Thanks,'' she breathed when he moved away. ''He's got a thing for aiming toward shoulders,'' she remarked, remembering that Natasha had been shot in the same spot.

They hoped Natasha was okay during her part of the plan, but they knew she would stop at nothing to make sure she stopped Hydra just as much as they would. Natasha was currently in Pierce's conference room with the World Security Council members, having impersonated one of them to get there. She was going to expose everything to the world, all of Hydra and all of SHIELD.

But their real concern right now was Steve.

''He's up there with no support,'' Sam shook his head.

''It's not your fault. Besides, maybe this is for the best. Steve knows Bucky better than anyone, maybe he can get through to him,'' Jess explained.

''You don't think Bucky will try and kill him?''

''I'm sure he will, but no one knows what's going through Bucky's mind, something might change,'' she told him. ''I don't know, I'm just hoping neither of them die really and that Hydra gets blown to bits,''

''We're gonna make sure of it,'' Sam nodded.

They stood in silence for a moment, catching their breath still and looking over to the building, wondering what was going on inside.

''Falcon? Jess?'' Maria's voice sounded in their ears.

''Yeah,'' they both replied together.

''Rumlow's headed for the council,'' she warned.

''On it,''

* * *

It felt like the building was empty as Sam and Jess made their way up a flight of stairs, their guns pointed in the direction of their path, ready. Rumlow had shot down any SHIELD agent who tried to stand up to him, and the bodies made a trail to the room where Rumlow was headed.

As they continued, the silence was broken by an agent who came at them viciously with a taser. Sam lifted his gun, but before he needed to pull the trigger, Jess kicked the man's feet out from beneath him and twisted his arm until the taser hit against him instead. He fell to the ground in seconds and Jess looked around for any more, knowing they were all hidden and waiting. There would have been an alert that they were in the building, but if they didn't get to Rumlow soon, he would get to Natasha and the situation upstairs. Jess wasn't going to let that happen.

''Go, I'll make sure no one follows you,'' she nodded toward him. ''Go Sam! There's not enough time to debate this,''

Sam took a step away, preparing to leave. Jess wasn't a soldier or a spy or and agent, but her confidence assured him she could take care of herself and she had proved it more than once that day. She was right, they didn't have time to debate.

Another agent came out from around the corner, his gun up toward Jess. She put her arms up, looking at Sam as if to tell him to get out of here, but he reached around and shot at the agent, waiting until he hit the ground before looking back to her.

''Now I'll go,'' he nodded.

Jess watched as he walked up the stairs further, and then she began making her way down the hall. All the offices were empty, but she could hear footsteps around corners. They weren't exactly being stealthy, but at a situation like this it would be expected they were in a rush. Hydra was almost taken down, they had nothing left to lose. Which meant they weren't just looking for a fight, they were looking to kill.

As she walked further, caution in each step, a woman stepped out behind one of the doors, her eyes wide with fear.

''I'm with SHIELD!'' she put her hands up as she saw Jess lift her gun.

''Aren't you all?'' Jess shook her head. ''Why are you still here then?''

''I'm meant to make sure no one gets past this hall,''

Jess watched the woman for a moment, trying to think of why she was assigned such a task. Her biggest concern though was whether or not the woman was SHIELD or Hydra. It was hard to tell.

''Why?''

The woman stared at her for a moment, and Jess knew. But before she could take action against the woman who she now declared as being Hydra, a garrote was slipped around her throat by whoever was behind her. She gritted her teeth as the thick wire became right about her neck, watching as the woman smirked in front of her. Jess tried to slip her hand under the wire, but it was no use. She threw her legs down onto the ground hard, pulling the person over and in front of her, a move she was quite skilled in.

However he kept his grip on the wire around her throat, and it was getting tighter. Jess's face turned redder and redder as she struggled, air becoming a desperate need. Then, much to her surprise, she managed to get two fingers underneath the wire and began pulling. It shouldn't have worked, there was no way the man's grip could have been loosened, but Jess was now pushing the wire away from her throat. With only two fingers, Jess pulled the wire as far back as it would go until she could get her head out from underneath. The man's eyes widened as she did so.

This is what she meant about having spurts of strength she didn't normally have. She shouldn't have been able to do that.

''How...'' the man began, looking at her in what appeared to be fear.

Jess responded by throwing her fist at his face, watching his head loll back. When she turned to the woman, she had already began running. Jess was going to chase her, but it could have been another trap. No more hesitating around these people. They all wanted her dead, but she was going to get to them first. A good thing about keeping her past hidden and clearing her background was that no one knew what to expect, and she smirked happily at that fact. Hydra didn't know they were dealing with someone whose family had been torn apart by them, or with someone who was in direct relation to the Winter Soldier.

These were the last moments of Hydra, and Jess was going to make sure they got what they deserved.

* * *

**Also for this story, Jess has obviously inherited super soldier genes, and I will get into that a lot more in future chapters, but I just want you to know that I'm aware the super soldier serum doesn't work like this in terms of aging or whatever, but for my story it does (it's fanfic, c'mon) and I'll try to make that as interesting as I can. Thanks for reading **


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